


Light My Way Home

by Oparu



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), The Little Mermaid (1989)
Genre: F/F, Fpreg, Magic Made Them Do It, Magical Accidents, Magical Pregnancy, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-30
Updated: 2013-09-01
Packaged: 2017-12-21 21:29:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 118,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/905147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oparu/pseuds/Oparu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma, Regina and the intrepid crew of the <i>Jolly Roger</i> set out to save Henry from Neverland. Regina's drained her magic so low she needs a transfusion from the saviour, Gold's plan to sneak past the Lost Boys is a bit fishy and Emma does things with magic she didn't think she could do.</p><p>Mermaids, magic and a long journey by sea, follow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In which the saviour does her duty

Dabbling in magic always seemed to end in explosions, Emma thought to herself as her parents dragged her to her feet. The hard floor of the mine had definitely left bruises on her back. Not being dead was certainly worth some black and blue marks. She hugged her parents tight, so incredibly glad that they were all alive, all safe, not all in the curse-less oblivion.

"Regina?" Snow asked over Emma's shoulder. 

Regina was also on her feet, holding the black diamond trigger that lay dead in her hand. She swayed a little, as if her feet were unfamiliar to her. Emma took a step towards her, reaching out to steady her if she needed it. 

"I'm all right," Regina said, not unkindly, almost as if she were pleasantly surprised Emma cared. 

Emma just finished saying Henry was right, when he was gone. They all ran then, rushing through the mine, past his abandoned backpack out onto the dock just in time to watch Henry disappear with Tamara and Greg through a portal. 

Everything else happened while Emma's blood pounded in her ears. They boarded the _Jolly Roger_ , Gold showed them the way, Hook threw the bean and then they were inside of the sea. She'd been through portals between worlds twice before, but this was the only time she'd come up wet. 

Everyone was wet. Regina clung to the rope on the gunnel, her parents clung to each other, Hook had the wheel and Gold was the first one to let go of his death grip. Plastered to his face with seawater, his hair clung to his skin. Emma's was worse. She brushed it out of her face and shook the water from her coat. Emma's parents looked after each other, David rescuing Snow's hat and laughing the way one laughed when they weren't dead and mildly concerned that they might have been. 

Emma turned, peeling off her thick black sea-soaked coat. The Neverland sun was hot overhead, which was good because every part of her was drenched. Regina sat on the deck, hands on her knees, her hair dripping onto her sodden black coat. Emma hung her coat on one of the pegs along the deck rail and offered Regina a hand up. 

"That was pretty wild, wasn't it?"

Regina came to her feet quickly, nearly losing her balance when she did. 

Emma steadied her. "You okay? Didn't hit your head on the ship or anything?"

"I'm fine." 

"Here, let me help," Emma said. Before Regina could protest, Emma had the buckles and zipper of Regina's coat undone and hung it alongside her own on the sunlight rail. Regina's red blouse clung to her skin, nearly revealing her black bra beneath. She crossed her arms over her chest, as if she was cold even in the bright sun. 

"Thank you, but I--" Regina started to protest, then grabbed Emma's arm for balance. Blue sparks, the colour Emma was starting to think of as her own magical blue, flashed out of Emma's hands and sank into Regina's body when Emma grabbed her hips to steady her. 

"Mother Superior said you needed to rest, not go running around town un-triggering curse triggers," Snow scolded in her mom voice. 

More blue crackled at the ends of Emma's fingertips, as if her magic needed to go into Regina, like it was filling a void. 

"I had to stop it," Regina said, trying to pull away, Her eyes flashed white as they rolled into her head and she slumped against Emma's chest. David and Snow helped ease her limp body down and Emma sat on the deck, Regina in her lap.

She stroked Regina's face, trying to bring her back to consciousness and more magic flew out of her, faster this time. Regina's skin was cold, as if she'd been in the water for days instead of moments.

"What's happening?" Emma said, looking across her parents to Gold, who limped to her side. 

He rested his hand on Regina's chest, just over her heart. "She's nearly drained her magic. Must have been running on adrenaline to get this far."

"Will she be okay? What do we do?"

Gold's expression was too soft and Emma's throat went tight. 

"Regina's magic is deeply integrated into her, without it, she may not survive."

"No," Emma said, surprised by her own urgency. She had been ready to let Regina be heroic, but this was wrong. "Henry needs her." More blue poured from her hands, sinking into Regina's cold skin and bringing just a hint of colour back. "Why am I doing that?"

"You're the saviour. You're trying to save her."

"Can I?"

Gold tapped his cane on the deck. "Lie Regina on the deck, put your hands on her chest, Miss Swan, we'll try a transfusion."

David and Snow helped lay Regina back, her head in Snow's lap. If she was more cognisant, Emma assumed she'd hate what was going on, but she was too out of it to even complain about how she was being treated. Emma knelt beside her, putting her hands on the wet silk that clung to Regina's ribs. Beneath them her heart was barely beating. 

"Now what?" She demanded, her throat dry and full of the metallic taste of fear. 

"Magic is emotional, remember? Think of life, people you love, growing things, healing, wrap all that up and let it flow into Regina, like you're filling her up," Gold said. "It should help her stabilise."

"Can't you do anything?" David asked.

Gold shook his head. "I'm the Dark One, saving lives really isn't part of my repertoire. If this is going to work, it's much more of a saviour, product of true love sort of magic."

At first magic trickled from Emma's hands, as if she'd left some kind of faucet running inside of her. She concentrated on Henry's smiling face, on how much she loved her parents, the smell of rain, forgiveness, hope, everything positive she could muster. Still the blue lagged, barely glowing beneath her palms. She had to do better, Regina's pulse was thready in her chest. Emma reached inwards and remembered the purest love she'd ever felt, when Henry grew within her, before she had to let him go. She dredged up every memory of him moving inside her and how much she'd adored him. She sent that down into Regina's still body, all the love she carried for their son, running through her as if Emma was a lightning rod and Regina the earth. Henry needed his mother, so she'd save her. That was the only option.

Emma's heart raced, like she was running. Regina's heart began to race with hers, her breath returning in gasps as if they were both running for their lives. Regina's back arched against the deck, pushing up against Emma's hands and something cracked between them, so sharp and sudden that Emma thought the deck had splintered before she fell, panting, her head on Regina's chest. Regina's hands found her, holding her tight for just a moment, as if they were lovers. Emma's body tingled all the way to her teeth and she was more exhausted than she thought possible. She rolled off so Regina could breathe and lay beside her on the deck, sweat mixed with salt water drying on her skin.

David's concerned face loomed over her, blocking the sun. "Are you all right?"

Emma nodded, grinning at him and trying not to blush. Whatever happened felt damn intimate and she'd just done it in front of her parents. She almost laughed in embarassment, then rolled her head over to look at Regina. 

Regina's hands lay on the deck, one between her and Emma and she reached for it because she had to reach for it. More blue seeped through Emma's palm, slower now, more like an IV drip. Regina didn't let go. Her eyes opened, fluttering against the sun until Snow shaded her face. 

"Feeling better?"

"I feel dizzy," Regina said, shutting her eyes again. "My head's spinning."

"You're full of someone else's magic. It's bound to take some getting used too, dearie," Gold said. He removed his coat and hung it on the rail of the ship next to the others. He stretched, lifting his eyes up towards the sky before he turned to Hook at the wheel. "Is there any food on your ship? We'll need to see both of them fed and bedded so they can recover."

"It's not much," Hook said, pointing below with his hand. "You're welcome to what you can find in the galley and if they need to remain connected, they may have my cabin."

Regina pulled her hand away, as if his comment had made her realise where it was and who she was touching. She tried to sit up and moaned, nearly losing consciousness again. Emma sat up, put both hands on Regina's face and left them there as more magic seeped from her into Regina. The tightness in Regina's face eased, as if her pain was fading. 

"Is that better?" Emma asked, knowing the answer.

"Yes," Regina said, opening her eyes again, frustration and confusion sharp in her voice. "I don't know what you're doing but as long as you're touching me, my head doesn't hurt." 

Emma let go with one hand, pulling her hair back so it could dry in a mess on her back instead of in her face. She took Regina's hand and rested then rested their clasped hands on Regina's stomach. Emma's magic kept flowing until Regina's headache was gone and she could sit up without fading. Snow brought them both cold water, then some kind of porridge. 

"Can you let go or should I feed you?"

"Please, don't even," Regina said with a disgusted look that suggested she was feeling better. When they released each other, the blue flow had stopped. They ate on the deck, side by side in the setting sun. Most of Emma's clothes were dry, but her shoes and jeans were still soggy. She took her shoes off, dumping the water from her shoes onto the deck and left them there. The deck warm beneath her bare feet. The sun sank red into the dark sea and they sat in silence, listening to the lap of the sea on the hull. 

Emma's parents looked for any spare clothes Hook's crew had left behind so they could change. When they returned, old, salt-faded shirts and baggy trousers with ropes to tie them on seemed to be the option for everyone. Emma took hers below, looking for a place to change. She had her shirt off, her bra over one of the many pegs in Hook's wall when Regina came through the wooden door a moment later, holding her clothes to her chest. 

"Gold thinks I should stay with you, in case I have some kind of relapse." Regina said, her eyes pointedly on Emma's face, not her bare breasts.

"Sorry," Emma said, pulling the pirate shirt over her head. It smelt clean at least. It went all the way to her knees, which made wriggling out of her wet jeans easier. She wasn't certain if she was apologising for being half-dressed or for being Regina's lifeline. 

Regina watched Emma finish tying her trousers around her waist and then, almost shyly, turned around so her back was to Emma. Hook's cabin was tiny and his bed took up most of it. 

"I'll shut my eyes," Emma said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. 

"Thank you," Regina said, softly, almost as if it had occurred to her to be grateful for more than just privacy. "And thank you for saving me. You didn't have to do that."

"Of course I did!" Emma said, forgetting herself and opening her eyes. Regina stood before her, naked down to her elegant black panties which were edged in lace that stood out in perfect contrast with her pale skin. 

Emma's face stung and she threw her hand in front of her eyes. She didn't even want to let herself think about Regina's impeccable breasts. 

Fabric rustled. 

Regina's tone had the imperious quality again. "You may open your eyes, Miss Swan." Regina had a loose pirate shirt on nearly identical to Emma's except for a red patch on the side. The loose neckline nearly fell from Regina's shoulders, exposing her smooth collarbones. She pulled it higher and sat on the corner of the bed like a nervous cat about to flee from the room. Her hair was drying wild around her face. Regina looked so innocent before her expression hardened. "If you're done--"

Emma cleared her throat. "I didn't mean to stare."

"You did it very well for an accidental voyeur."

"I haven't seen you without makeup," Emma said, realising how pathetic her excuse sounded after it was out of her mouth.

"Unless Hook decides to share his eyeliner, you'll have to get used to it, Miss Swan."

"Please," Emma said, giving up propriety and crawling into the bed, "if we're going to sleep together, call me Emma."

"We are not--" Regina sighed. She didn't have the strength to argue. "I hope you're not enjoying this too much."

Emma pulled the sheet and woollen blanket up over her legs and sat against the head of the bed. She wasn't sure she was going to confess until it was out. "It felt good when I was touching you, like I was meant to do it."

Regina climbed in next to her, rolling to her side and facing the hull of the ship with her back to Emma. Emma shifted the blankets so that Regina had all the slack. She wasn't cold, but the night might become cooler and she didn't want Regina to be chilled. 

Regina was silent for so long that Emma thought she'd fallen asleep.

"I could feel you inside of me," Regina said to the ship instead of Emma. 

"What?" Emma rolled over, too close, nearly spooning Regina who didn't roll away. She didn't have anywhere to go, really, but Emma was trying to be optimistic. 

"I felt sick when Henry was gone, then on the deck everything hurt, then started to go numb and I felt you, like you were inside of me, burning all the numbness away." Regina turned, almost into Emma's arms. "Why would you do that?"

"Henry needs his mother," Emma said, reaching up and stroking a piece of Regina's unruly hair out of her face. In the steadily darkening cabin, Emma's hand was haloed in blue for an instant before it faded. 

Regina shut her eyes tight and said no more. 

Emma started to shift back to her side of the bed, but Regina's hand found hers and held on, so she stayed. That night, her dreams were all about Henry, laughing and playing in the surf. They built a sandcastle that looked just like Snow and Charming's in fairy-tale-land and all three of them were happy, Emma, Henry and Regina, who was so beautiful when she laughed.

* * *

Regina woke up in the entirely awkward position of being wrapped in Emma's arms. She had her head on the saviour's shoulder, her hand on Emma's chest and their legs were all tangled. She lay there, trying to decide what her dreams had meant. Henry on the beach with Emma, building castles from another world wasn't one of her dreams. It was too happy, too uncomplicated. Before she woke up, she held hands with the dream of Emma Swan, snuggled close to her as Henry ran into the waves. Then she leaned in closer still, needing, wanting; knowing she'd be kissed. 

The dream ended in Regina's panic. Emma's hand ran through her hair and she realised that Emma was awake. Emma knew Regina was clinging to her like a needy child but she didn't want to pull away. She felt safe, soothed by Emma's touch, just as she had on the deck. Was her magic still drained? What was wrong with her?

Regina sat up, pulling herself free from Emma. She brought her knees to her chest and held them tight. Emma sat up, that apology that wasn't really an apology on her face. 

“Sorry.”

“It felt right again, did it?”

Emma looked down, then met Regina's eyes. She was braver than anyone else who dared stare at Regina. The challenge was there in Emma's gaze, daring Regina to disagree. 

“You were talking in your sleep. You were happy, then you seemed upset. I wanted to--”

“Thank you, Miss--” she stopped, she was being too cold. Emma had saved her life, twice if Regina was fair. She hated being fair. “Emma,” Regina said finally. “I hope I didn't disturb you.”

“No, I--” Emma broke off and looked away, now shy. “I was having this really nice, kind of strange dream with you and Henry and then you seemed afraid and I woke up.”

Regina stared at her, her own mouth partly open. She wanted to ask about sandcastles, if they had been about to kiss before she'd pulled away. Had Emma wanted the kiss to happen? She couldn't ask. Her curiosity burned in her chest but she didn't dare ask. Emma would think she was ridiculous. It wasn't possible to share the same dream. 

“I appreciate your concern,” Regina said, reaching for the depths of her control. Part of her, maybe the part that had sucked up Emma's magic so hungrily, wanted to fall into Emma's arms and let Emma stroke her hair and whisper comfort. That wasn't going to happen.

She did allow Emma to give her a hand off the bed, and barefoot, like Hook's bedraggled crew, they headed to the galley and the smell of food.

* * *

Time seemed to have fallen back into the curse. The island grew no closer on the horizon (though Hook and Gold promised it was indeed nearing), each day dawned bright and sunlit and the sun reflected off of the sea with far too much cheerfulness. Snow and David did their best with the food, Regina knew little about dried meat, fish, beans and fruit, her knowledge of cooking worked best with real ingredients, so most of what they ate tasted like different kinds of porridge and stew, all scraped up with hard biscuits Hook seemed all together too fond of. 

Her stomach was tender, so the bland food went well with the herbal tea Snow kept handing to her. Regina toyed with the idea of dumping it over the side, just to frustrate the princess, but she had a weariness behind her eyes that the tea helped, so she drank it. Emma was on the same regimen of constant mugs of tea, and though Emma joked tastelessly about it going right through into the dreadful bucket they used as a chamberpot, she also drank it. 

They tried sleeping apart in the hammocks Hook's crew used, but Emma had woken up standing next to Regina's hammock, both of her hands in Regina's, with more of her magic streaming between them with no idea how she'd gotten there, just that she'd needed to be. Regina had gone to bed with her head pounding and woken, hands in Emma's, feeling herself again. It seemed they were unavoidably bound, as if their magic understood what to do even if they didn't. So they took the first mate's room, allowing the lovebirds Hook's quarters. The bed was a little smaller and Regina wanted to hate Emma for feeding her, or whatever was going on between them, but she slept better with Emma beside her. 

After several days, she was physically nearly well again but her magic was sporadic and unreliable. They didn't know what was waiting for them on the island and they would need magic but Regina's wouldn't listen. Sometimes her hands sparked blue, a deeper, more violet blue than Emma's, sometimes it was pale lavender and slipped from her fingertips like water, snaking out towards Emma in the dark. Gold had no idea what was happening, the transfusion had been a long shot at best and he was just as surprised as Emma that it worked. 

Emma was much too calm about the whole thing, which just made it all more intolerable. Emma lay next to her at night, magic streaming between them in the dark, illuminating strange patterns on the ceiling through the holes in the blankets, and none of it bothered her. Sometimes, when Regina was so frustrated with her own inability to channel her own emotions into magic, Emma would touch her shoulder and everything would fall into place. Then she could conjure barrels from below, move the ropes, lift the rusty swords David was working so methodically to sharpen.

Needing Emma was almost worse than death, but only almost. She lay awake, waiting for her dreams to merge with Emma's again, and tried not to admit to herself that she enjoyed it when they did. Emma mercifully didn't talk about it either. 

After thirteen days that passed in a dream of the sea and waiting, Regina's magic was normal again, if still much lighter purple than it had ever been before. The island truly had moved closer and Gold shared his plan for infiltrating the island of the Lost Boys. 

It was a terrible plan but of course, only she saw how foolish it was and everyone else jumped to go along with it.

* * *

On the deck, Emma took off her trousers, leaving the handmedown pirate clothes on the deck. She'd almost become fond of them, they were comfy, like really old sweatpants. She stood, rather idiotically in her shirt before Gold waved his hand and she had to take that off too. She still had her bra and panties and Gold wasn't looking (Hook was, before her father hit him, hard). Unlike Regina's, which were an elegant matching black set, Emma had striped red panties and a pink bra. Snow's didn't match either, but they were a bit less vivid in their clashing. 

“Hurry up, would you?” Emma said, hoping Gold's spell wouldn't ruin her panties because they were the only pair she had and going commando the rest of the trip didn't really appeal to her. 

Gold mumbled something, waved his hands and dark purple smoke stole her away. Emma shrank, or more accurately, melted into the deck. Her legs joined together, as if they were wax instead of flesh, becoming one limb as her feet turned to fins. She held herself up with her arms, staring at her tail. _Her tail_. Beside her, with a tail just the greener side of teal than Emma's, Snow reached out to touch her own fins, shaking her head in wonder. 

Regina's was shaded purple, of course and she was the least shaken. She'd transformed before, Emma guessed, though probably not into a mermaid. Emma's hair had lengthened thanks to the spell and it fell in waves down her back all the way to her scaly ass. Regina's and Snow's hair was equally long. Snow's was full of soft, princess-like waves and Regina's was nearly straight, somewhere between Morticia Addams and the sexiest mermaid Emma had ever seen. 

The sun above them was hot, too dry and Emma was suddenly aware of how ridiculous she felt on the deck. Without realising what she was doing, she flipped her tail (her incredibly strong, magical mermaid tail) and thrust herself into the air, then dove into the sea. 

The sea was her playground. Emma could swim in her own body, even swim pretty well, but it was nothing compared to this. She cut through the water like a missile, turned a dime and she never needed to come up for air. The water was home, the way nothing else had ever been home in her life. It was full of the most vivid colours of coral and fish and Emma knew them all as if they were old friends. 

“Come up to the surface,” her mother said, waving her back to the silvery world above. “We need to go over the plan again.”

By the time Emma dragged herself back up to the stupid world above her glorious sea, Gold had already done his work. An innocent-looking blonde boy grinned at them from the deck, another boy barely older than Henry was swimming in his leather coat and a third boy laughed wickedly. 

“That'll do it.” Gold, the boy with the wicked laugh, smiled down over the side. “Are you liking the water?”

“It's incredible,” Snow answered for all of them. Even Regina was smiling in pure joy. 

“Mermaids are guileless creatures, try not to let it go to your heads too much now ladies.” Gold's voice was comically pre-pubescent and Emma's father's stupid grin at the Snow-mermaid was halfway between creepy and completely adorable. 

“We'll meet you at the rendezvous point,” Snow said, blowing a kiss at the boy who was her husband. Emma tried not to stare too hard at the fairly cute boy who had a hook. Hook's rakish grin was a lot less dashing and much more playful with a twelve-year old mouth. 

With the boys suitably disgused, Emma sank back beneath the water and nearly sang with joy. She belonged here, here in the brilliant sea where the fish played in her hair as if it were kelp fronds and the octopus that her human eyes wouldn't even have seen came to let her stroke it, like an eight-armed dog. 

Regina and her mom must have felt it too because the three of them raced to the bay, jumping through the waves, diving down deep until the water was cool and dark. They were far too early and danced circles around each other beneath the water until the sun set and they could creep up onto the rocks around the shore, tails carefully still in the water so the spell would hold. 

While they waited, Snow braided Emma's hair, tucking pieces of kelp around the braid and humming to herself. Emma knew that Gold, David, Henry, even Hook were all in terrible danger, that the Lost Boys were something to be feared, that Greg and Tamara were working for something horrible, but she almost couldn't bring herself to worry. 

Regina organised shells on her rock until she had a perfect apple, white with a pink leaf on its stem. Emma let tiny darter fish swim between her fingers until they heard the crashing through the underbrush of many pairs of legs. 

The David-boy broke the trees first, Henry's hand clasped tight in his own. Gold's deep purple magic swarmed around them all, then there was a bang and their pursuers stopped in the trees. David and Henry leapt from the cliff above them and dove into the sea. Snow flipped off her rock and grabbed David, while Regina went straight for Henry. Emma waited for Gold to follow, then dove after him a moment after she saw the terrible shadow with glowing eyes staring at her. 

She grabbed Gold, holding his little boy form to her chest. Hook had gone the other way, tracing the coast back to his ship. They were all supposed to meet by the reef. Emma let herself believe Gold wasn't Gold, but rather a little boy she was saving from drowning and kissed him, bestowing the mermaid's gift of water-breathing. She held him close and glided through the starlit sea, following David, Snow, Regina and Henry all the way back to the ship. 

The boys climbed aboard, becoming men as they clambered up the ropes onto the deck. Regina went next, scooped up in a net. Her tail began legs again and she ran on her newly returned feet to hug Henry tight up above. Emma wanted to be up there too, holding him close, but Snow was next in the net. She dove under the _Jolly Roger_ , taking her last moments of freedom before she was doomed back to dry land. 

She was deep in the welcoming sea when she heard the cry for help. It was desperate, plaintive and very much not the evil shadow. Emma went deeper, waiting for her eyes to adjust. It was so dark, even with her mermaid vision. A rope hit her tail and she turned, almost angry at being interrupted. She remembered the ship and followed the rope all the way to the surface. 

“Someone's in trouble,” she called, avoiding the net. “There's someone down there.”

“It's probably a trick,” Gold said, drying his hair with a rag. 

“Mom?” Henry called down. “The shadow can play tricks on you.”

“It's not something I see. Someone's calling for help.”

Her parents and Regina all tried to convince her to get into the net so they could get going in one voice but Henry's cut through.

“The shadow doesn't make noise, Mom. If someone's calling for help, it's not him.”

Emma stared up at the faces over the railing. “How much longer do I have?”

“Until you leave the water completely, you'll remain a mermaid,” Gold said. Snow and David shot him a look together that definitely said 'don't tell her that'. 

“I need to go kid,” Emma said to Henry. “Regina's got you. Mom, Dad, someone's in trouble and I need to save her.”

She heard her mother tell her to be careful and Henry wish her luck, but all Emma saw was Regina's face, watching her slip beneath the sea almost as if she didn't want her to go. Must have been some kind of magical hangover or something.


	2. Chapter 2

Emma, the saviour mermaid, didn't come back that night. Regina held Henry until he wouldn't let himself be held anymore and then listened with her heart in her throat as he told his story. 

“The shadow made them kneel at his feet and they handed me over.” Henry stopped, his eyes bright with excitement and terror. “The shadow was going to thank them, but he tore their shadows off instead. Ripped them like he was tearing the wings off of a fly and they went quiet, like robots, or zombies and I didn't see them again.”

Regina wanted to hug him again but settled for touching his shoulder. 

“They're his slaves now,” Gold said, his face eerie in the lantern light on the deck. “We won't see them again.”

“Who is he?” Henry demanded, facing Gold with that foolish bravery Regina knew came from Emma. She missed her and hoped she was all right, whatever foolish thing she was doing.”

“He's the Pan. Peter, they call him sometimes. He's a spirit who doesn't belong in this world.”

“I've seen the movie,” Henry said, his lips in a stubborn line. “Peter Pan's supposed to be a good guy.”

“Pan takes you away from your family and keeps you on an island full of wonders and monsters where you never grow old, never change, never become anything more than he wants you to be,” Gold said, resting his hands on his cane. “He's a jailer, a kidnapper who feeds on youth so that he never has to grow up. When you're no good to him as a playmate, you become his slave, part of his game forever.”

“Did we really get away?” Henry asked, staring at his own flickering shadow on the deck. 

“Of course we did,” Regina said, wishing she could chase the fear from his face. 

Snow and David took turns keeping watch for Emma. Regina took Henry below, helped him pick out a hammock, listened to him talk about how incredibly cool it was that she'd been a mermaid to rescue him and that he was so happy she was working with his grandparents and Emma.

“You're all on the same team, working together. It's pretty awesome, Mom.”

She wasn't sure she agreed, but he was so happy that she nodded then kissed him goodnight. She stood in the dark hold, watching him swing in the pirate hammock he thought was so 'sweet' until she heard his breathing soften in sleep. Exhausted and grateful, Regina crept back to the first mate's cabin before she even realised what she was doing. Emma was under the sea, she didn't need to wait for her to come to bed so she could hear (maybe it was share?) Emma's dreams of joy and peace. She could take the hammock next to Henry and keep his breathing in her ears all night. 

Without realising what she was doing, Regina climbed into her side of the bed and curled up with Emma's pillow instead of her own. Knowing Henry was safe, her last thoughts were for Emma's safe return. If only for Henry's sake, at least, she tried to tell herself. 

She was racing in the dark. The sea clung to her scales, thick, cold and dark like ink. Something terrible was behind Emma, reaching with dark tentacles in the blackness, she had to get away, she had to swim faster--

Regina could scream, unlike Emma in the dream, and she cried out before she could hold back. Feet trampled across the boards, creaking as they came and she'd woken everyone on the ship in her hysterics. She would have cared about the tears on her face if she wasn't still wrapped in Emma's panic, as if the inky sea were in her blood. Henry jumped onto the bed next to her, his eyes wide. David and Snow hovered in the doorway, holding a lantern, with Hook and Gold behind them. 

Shadows stretched lazy patterns across the bed. Henry's in particular kept changing shape. 

“I felt Emma,” Regina explained, her hands still shaking. Her face stung with embarassment and she wanted them all gone but Emma was in trouble. “She was trying to get away from something horrible behind her and she couldn't scream.”

“Was she still a mermaid?”

“What was it?”

“How can we get to her?”

All the questions came at once and she wanted Emma to come tell everyone to be quiet so she could think, but Emma wasn't here. Emma was in danger somewhere down in the abyss beneath the hull and Regina's chest tightened down until breathing hurt. She didn't care. It was Emma's own fault for running off on some foolish quest after a voice no one was really sure was there. Emma deserved her fate. 

Regina couldn't even hold on to that thought without some kind of hysterical claustrophobia gnawing at her stomach. She cared for Emma nearly as much as she did Henry, more than she did any other living being and it didn't make any sense, Emma had broken her curse, ruined her town--

Emma had saved her. Taken away the monotony of the curse that never changed, saved Henry, brought back magic and saved her life. Emma was in her, somehow, that had to be it. Regina couldn't love her. It had to be magic. She needed Emma because of magic. That was much neater than love, much safer. 

Regina shut her eyes, held up her hands to drown out all the voices that weren't Emma. Her cabin was stuffy, everyone was staring at her and she couldn't think. She met Henry's terrified eyes and forced herself calm. 

“She's okay. Something was chasing her, but she got away. She's not frightened anymore. I think I'd know if something had happened to her. She's okay now.” 

She reached for Henry, wishing she could ruffle his hair and soothe him as easily as Emma could. “She's all right,” she repeated, for him. Some of the fear faded from his eyes, but he wasn't going back to sleep any time soon.

“How did you and Emma get connected? Why can you hear her in your dreams?”

Regina blinked, her eyes stinging all of a sudden. “Stopping the trigger took much of my energy. I didn't realise how much until I was on the ship.”

“Regina got kind of sick,” Snow interrupted, saving Regina from having to explain how drained she'd been. “Emma healed her, but Emma's still new at healing. It had some side effects.”

“Emma can heal now?” Henry grinned. “That's so cool.”

Of course it was. Regina needed to see the sky, and she slipped past David and Snow and up the crooked stairs to the deck. Henry could talk to his grandparents about just how 'cool' Miss Swan was without her. The stars hung closer and heavy in the cool night air. Neverland lay behind them and the _Jolly Roger_ slept at anchor, waiting for the captain to set her free when they had somewhere to go. She headed for the bow, curling up over her knees in on the cool deck. The wind whispered in the rigging, having a secret conversation with the lapping sea against the sides. 

The lantern shone across the deck and David came towards her, obviously because she hated him less than Snow and one of them would have to make sure Emma was fine. 

“Are you all right?” He handed her a black woollen coat that he must have mistaken for hers. Regina draped it over her shoulders and snuggled into it without telling him it was Emma's. 

“I can't hear her now. She must be safe.” 

He took that in but didn't leave. Wasn't that enough for him? Wasn't all her wanted to know was that his beloved daughter was all right?

“It must be disconcerting to hear someone else in your dreams, especially someone running for her life.”

“Yes.” She turned away from him, watching the few, faint lights on the island in the distance. Were they fires? Was Pan looking for Henry? Had they really gotten away?

“How often can you hear Emma?” David asked, still next to her. What was it going to take to satisfy him?

“At night, most nights.” Saying it aloud stung with foolishness but perhaps when he had what he wanted he'd leave her be. “I usually hear her dreaming. She dreams very-” what was the polite thing to say? “-vividly.”

“Is it a side effect of what happened?”

“Must be. It's never happened to me before, I've never been filled with someone else's magic before either.” She thought her tone was cold enough to send him off, but he remained. Was he dense? Was that why he was so deeply in love with Snow White?

“That was touch and go for awhile there, wasn't it?”

“I don't know what you mean.” She tugged Emma's coat closer, the chill of the deck creeping up through her bare feet. “I was unconscious until Emma had her hands all over my face.”

“Is that what Emma's magic is like?” He had a piece of rope in his hands that he tied and untied into a complicated knot without looking. “Is she a wellspring because of how she was born?”

“Mr. Gold ought to be able to answer that better than I.”

“Gold's powers are easy to trace. He's the Dark One, he got his through conquest. Yours are learned, yours are more like Emma's.”

Regina's cold snort hurt her throat. Emma was still near danger, she could feel her adrenaline pumping through her and it made her uneasy. “What's inside me is nothing like what's inside your daughter. I find magic through anger, fear and destruction. The 'lightest' spells I can cast are all protection spells, ones that I can call up through fear. Emma oozes love magic as if it's coming out of her without any thought at all. Yes, I do think that had something to do with her parents. Children of true love are rare and powerful.”

“Will she be able to protect herself?”

“I don't know.” How could she explain it in a way he'd understand and take at face value so she could have some peace? “Protecting others will probably be easy for her. I imagine healing spells will come with very little effort, her magic reaches out almost on its own to heal. Trying to stop the trigger drained me nearly to death and it may have had an equally profound effect on Emma. Not a weakening, she's not focused enough for that.” She stopped, shutting her eyes and willing Emma to escape, to be safe so Regina could think without wishing she had somewhere to run. 

“Emma?”

“She's wary, on her guard.” Regina swallowed hard, sending ripples of pain through her neck. Everything in her was tense and there was nothing she could do until Emma was safe. 

“Will she be all right? Will she be able to defend herself?”

That was it. She stared at David's pretty, vacant, hopeful eyes and she finally understood. “Her defenses.”

“Yes?”

“Emma held her magic in the same way you'd hold in an emotion. She held it tight to defend herself. It's free now.”

“So she's unguarded?”

“More like a magical live wire. She heard the call for help because all her senses are bathed in magic. She took to being a mermaid so completely because she strengthened Gold's spell with her own magic. She's brimming with love magic and the more she feels--” Regina stopped so suddenly that she bit her own cheek. Emma was feeding her own magic with love. It wasn't just her heritage, it was her own heart. She must have felt very strongly for Henry and Neal to have so much spare. Envy burned in Regina's stomach, but she forced it away. 

“The more she feels?” David led her, hoping she'd finish.

“I don't know. I've been so angry before that I thought my magic was going to explode out of me. Sometimes it did and people died. I've never based any magic on love. I didn't even know anyone could use magic that way.” Regina pulled herself to her feet with the rail, still clinging to Emma's coat. He seemed somewhat satisfied with her explanation and she wished she could tell him more. 

“When she comes back, Gold and I will do what we can to teach her how to use her powers. For Henry.”

David smiled and it appeared genuine. She left him before he could say anything else unsettling and headed for Gold who sat in the stern, eyes always on the island behind them. 

“Emma's dripping magic, isn't she?”

Gold smiled, a weary twisting of his lips. “She's full of it, yes.”

“That's why she was drawn to me. I was drained, she had too much, she couldn't help it.”

“And it turned out very lucky for you that she had so much energy to spare,” Gold said, turning his eyes to her. “She brought you back from the brink and she's still feeding you.” 

“I've recovered now.”

“Yet she's still reaching for you, even in her dreams.”

Regina had thought of those as a side effect, not as a continuation of Emma's actions. “She needs an outlet.”

“Exactly. She has no defences, no sense of balance and no idea what to do with any of the spare energy she can't stop producing by the bucketful. Your need was perfectly timed and even now that you've recovered, I'm willing to bet she's been using your greater capacity to take some of the excess. I've been hoping the mermaids need much from her or her magic might find other ways to be spent.”

Regina blinked at him. “What does love magic do when it has nowhere to go?” 

“Good question. I doubt any of us will be able to answer that until Emma returns or we find someone who's understands the consequences of true love better than I do.”

The little lift of his eyebrows gave away that as far as he knew, no one understood magic better than he did. The fairies might know something, but their magic was so different that they might not be able to help at all. There might be something in Gold's books, but his library was huge and Snow White no longer had a teacher's patience to read through dull things. 

“So she's still reaching for me?”

“You've had magic longer. You can store more of it. You have a degree of control.”

She glared at him. Her control was far better than he ever gave her credit for. The fact that she hadn't torn him to pieces when she had the chance was a testament to that. 

“You feel it, don't you? The strange twist of your magic? It softening, lightening” he dropped his voice to a whisper, “-becoming good.”

“That's ridiculous.”

“Why is it a shade of lilac instead of the purple it has always been?”

“Why is the colour important?”

“You tell me. You, Cora-” The tenderness he gave her mother's name made her stomach twist, “-and I have always had the same colour magic because you and your mother learned from me and my magic is, well, Dark, dearie.”

“But Emma's is different.”

“And now so is yours.”

“It works the same way it always has,” she insisted, sick of this argument. Regina conjured a fireball just to prove her point, but it's harder to call forth than usual. The wellspring of anger she always drew on was slow to respond.

“Think of Henry, or someone else, if that works better.” 

When he taunted her, the fireball burst to full strength, fed by her frustration.

“That's cheating.”

“What you're talking about can't be possible.”

“Yes, your highness, a magical transfusion can change your type.” 

'”I still cast from anger,” she reminded him, unwilling to let him bask in his righteousness any longer.

“I don't think you have to anymore, but I'll leave you to it, dearie. There are some gulls about if you need some target practice.” His cane thumped on the deck as he left her alone. 

She stood out in the starlight, toying with a ball of fire in her hands. She could make it grow with anger, as she always had, but she could also feed it by thinking of Henry or memories of her father. Letting the fire fade, she touched Emma's coat and wondered. Filling her thoughts with Emma, she reached for the fire and let it grow between her hands. Instead of burning red-orange, her hands were briefly full of that damn lilac purple before the flame caught and burst. The fire nearly exceeded her control before it fizzled and popped out of existence. She wasn't sure what emotion that was, but it was unreliable. She couldn't cast like that in a dangerous situation. 

Regina kept at it, trying to rediscover the roots of her abilities until even with Emma's coat she was cold and she needed to relieve herself in that infuriating bucket. Perhaps it was just her frustration with the general state of the facilities on the dreadful pirate ship, but she felt as if she'd dumped the bucket over the side far too often. Just one more thing to hate about this little adventure. Without thinking too much more about that she returned below. 

Gold had set protective wards so they needed no watch. Henry was fast asleep in his hammock. Snow must have comforted him. Gold had disappeared to wherever he slept and Hook was rakishly half-in, half-out of his own hammock. She heard Snow and David murmuring to each other as she passed Hook's cabin. He was probably repeating verbatim what Regina had told him, but she'd expected that. The Charmings did seem to trust that she meant no harm to Emma, and that was a small victory. Hanging Emma's coat on the wall of Hook's cabin, Regina crawled back into bed, spending a moment in silent hope that the rest of Emma's night would be less eventful so she could sleep.

* * *

Emma had always had a knack for finding people, and it seemed to work even underwater. She swam down for minutes, watching the water grow black around her. She could see through it somehow, as if it wasn't really dark. Magical mermaid vision worked pretty well and when she concentrated, she could even make out trails in the water where fish had passed by. Not much of them, mostly a swirling that made the water blurry, but it was something. She tried to centre herself and listen. Maybe whoever was in trouble would make some more noise, or cry out again. 

She ended up getting lucky. Something metal fell, clanging against other rusty metal. Emma followed the sound, marvelling at how well her hearing worked when she really concentrated on it. She needed light and wishing for a flashlight made the tips of her fingers glow. Surprised out of her swimming, she stopped and stared. Had she really done that? It wasn't just some kind of algae or another secret mermaid thing. Emma shut her eyes, focused on how much she wanted a flashlight and then peeked at her own fingers again. 

She'd done it. Her hands glowed as if she'd dipped them in something phosphorescent. It wasn't that directed and it wasn't that bright, but hey, she'd had something. Putting her hands in front of her as she swam, like Superman, she made good progress thanks to her strong tail. A valley in the sea stretched before her, huge and dark. The shallows beneath her, full of coral and fish, came to an abrupt halt. 

"Help me!" Someone, a woman, called again and this time she was close enough to know it came from the valley. The dark place, of course. No one got into trouble in the beautiful parts of the reef. 

Emma slowed her swimming. She didn't know if sharks liked mermaids or if she had much defensive capabilities. She certainly didn't have a weapon. She could glow her fingers at them, but that probably wouldn't be very effective. She couldn't see much. Old shipwrecks lay on the bottom of the valley, rotting and collapsing in on themselves. She swam by several until she noticed one had the dust stirred up more than the others. Someone had passed by closely, maybe even gone inside. 

Circling the wreck, Emma found a bag of some sort, resting near one of the windows. It was purple and it had some rusty trinkets from the ship. Was someone collecting things? She concentrated, trying to make the light in her hands bright enough to actually do some good in the murk. Magic was emotional, what emotion was light? She racked her brain and settled on how it felt to know Henry was safe. She filled her mind with Regina hugging him close and shut her eyes. 

"Come on, come on," she whispered. "It's just a light spell. You can do this."

Regina had looked so happy. She had such a beautiful smile when it was genuine. Emma's hands tingled and when she opened her eyes again, her hands blazed with light, as if she'd found her own personal spotlights. It was almost too much, and she managed to tune it back a bit. 

"Hello?" she called, heading in to the wreck. "Is anyone here?"

"You heard me?" The woman called from further in. "You came for me?"

"I'm coming. Where are you?"

"In the hold, one of the beams fell and I got caught."

The hold was the lowest part of the vessel, and it was crumbling around them. Pieces of rotten wood hung in the murk as Emma swam deeper. 

"I have light, can you see it?"

"No...yes! Yes I can. I'm just on the other side of the wood."

Emma circled the rotting wall and found a young mermaid with bright red hair, caught by her tail under what looked like heaps of old rope. 

"It fell," the trapped mermaid said. "I'm usually so careful, I just got too close."

"Are you an archeologist or something?" Emma asked, looking around for something to pry back the coils of seaweed-encrusted rope. 

"An archey-olow what?"

"Someone who studies old things," Emma explained. "Guess not."

"I haven't seen you before." The trapped mermaid's relief had faded into concern. "I thought I knew everyone in the city."

"I'm Emma," she said, searching the murky bottom of the ship until she found a metal bar that hadn't quite rusted away. She ought to be able to pry the girl free. "I guess I'm new."

"I'm Ariel." She seemed puzzled and Emma wondered if the mermaids were a very close knit community. 

"I'm not usually a mermaid. I'm human," Emma said, hoping her rescue attempt would go better if she was trusted.

"Human?" Ariel asked, her eyes wide and white. "A real human?"

"I am most definitely a real human. I'm a fake mermaid, sure, but my human-ness is real, I promise."

"That's incredible. I've always wanted to meet a human. I have so many questions--"

"You might want to save them until we're in a better place to chat."

"Right," Ariel said, watching Emma prepare. "Sorry."

"Questions are fine. I'll do my best to answer all of them once you're free." Emma wedged the old bar in as deep as she could. "Okay, I'm going to try and wriggle you up some space to pull your tail out. On three?"

Ariel nodded, bracing herself. 

"One, two, three--" 

Emma pushed her makeshift lever down as hard as she could. Ariel squirmed for a moment, almost obscured entirely by stirred up murk, then she was free. She grabbed Emma's hand and swam for the exit. The ship creaked around them, as if it were ready to swallow them whole at add them to its watery grave. Ariel was faster than Emma and dragged her through the collapsing mess. The ship went down in a cloud of bits of wood, dust and debris from the bottom. 

Concentrating again, Emma tried strengthening her light, but she wasn't as focused as before. Both of them caught their breath in the fog. 

"Thank you. I don't even know you."

"I heard you cry out."

She happily took the bag Emma was holding and clutched it as if it were full of treasures. "Thanks for saving me, and my bag. It means a lot."

"Sure."

"What were you doing near here? It's a forsaken place. Only I come here," Ariel said. 

"My ship," Emma paused and looked up, trying to find the _Jolly Roger_ in the dark surface. It was up there somewhere. "My ship must have been above you." She started searching for the anchor line, if she could find that, she could make her way back. 

"You have a ship? A ship full of humans?" Ariel looked as if she were about to meet the Beatles.

"My family, and a pirate. It's his ship." Emma stopped scanning for the anchor line and floated, trying to figure Ariel out. "You like humans?"

"Humans fascinate me. You make such interesting things. You live such fascinating lives, so close to our kingdom, yet so far removed from it. Of course, you're the first one I've met, most humans can't usually come down this far."

"Well, it's my pleasure--" Emma started, then stopped. Something was wrong. Something had run over her scales like ice water. Ariel felt it too, whatever it was. All of her poorly understood mermaid senses said she needed to get away. Now. 

"We need to swim," Ariel whispered, the panic Emma felt mirrored in her face. "Fast." 

Emma nodded to her, waiting for her to pick a direction, then throwing all of her power into swimming after her. She didn't dare glance back. Whatever was behind them was huge, she could feel it displacing the water as it came after them, but she couldn't see it. It didn't have any light, but it seemed to be able to follow them just fine without it. They swam over and under parts of the reef, flying across it as the water grew shallower. Ariel was heading up, towards the surface, and Emma went with her. Something hideous brushed her tail, almost as if it was reminding her how close she'd been to being taken, before it vanished. 

Ariel had brought them all the way to the surface, and they broke through, gasping for breath in the starlit air. 

"What was that?"

"It lives in the shadow with the wrecks. I've never really seen it. It's dark and always hungry. Usually I don't make enough noise to wake it up, but I did destroy a ship this time. The whales avoid it. The sharks tell horror stories about it. My father knows what it is, but he doesn't usually tell me anything unless I need to know it."

"Your father?" Maybe he was a scholar.

"Triton, King of the Merfolk," Ariel said, sheepishly looking at her hands. "You won't tell him I was in the shadowy place, will you?"

"I've never met him, so you should be safe."

"Oh, that's a good point," Ariel said, smiling. "He doesn't talk to humans much anyway." She pointed, excited by something she saw. "There's a light there, on the sea. Is that your ship?"

Following her hand, Emma smiled back. "I think it is. Come on, you can meet the rest of the humans if you like. They're all pretty friendly."

The _Jolly Roger_ was further away than it seemed, and by the time they reached it, dawn was breaking grey and pink on the horizon. Emma yawned and let herself float on the lazy surface. No one seemed to be up yet and she hated to wake them. Part of her felt peaceful, even relaxed and she realised after a moment of thought that it must be Regina, fast asleep. 

Ariel was napping next to her, curled up around her bag. Emma was exhausted as well, but she watched the sunrise instead, listening for footsteps on the deck above.

Her parents were the first ones up. She heard them whispering to each other about breakfast, then a silence that had to be them kissing. Emma thought about calling up, but concentrated as much as she could, then threw a ball of water up onto the deck by them. It was somewhat less effective than a water balloon, but it drew their attention to the side.

"Emma? Oh Emma, we were so worried about you."

"I'm fine. I made a friend. Mom, Dad, this is Ariel." Emma gestured at the mermaid next to her, who had started rubbing her eyes. "Ariel, this is my mom, Mary- Snow, call her Snow, and my dad, David."

Ariel waved at them both with great enthusiasm. "It's very exciting to meet you both."

Snow's face stayed at the rail and David disappeared to get the net. 

"We can take you both on board with the net if you want. Mr. Gold says your transformation will wear off, but I don't know if we can do anything for you, Ariel. Will you be all right out of the water for awhile?"

Ariel nodded so quickly Emma worried she'd hit her chin on her chest. "I'll be fine, Snow. I'd very much like to see your ship."

Emma swam into the net when it came down, bidding goodbye to her brief existence as a mermaid as it swept her up. Her legs reformed out of her tail, itching a bit as the scales fell off. Her knees were kind of soggy too, as if she'd forgotten how to stand on them. Snow had a blanket for her, and she was wrapped up in moment. It was a little scratchy, but warm. Her mom hugged her, then her dad got in on it. 

"We were so worried about you."

"Ariel and I got a little tangled in a wreck, then something chased us. Something dark."

Hook and David hauled Ariel up and dropped her gently to the deck. Unlike Emma, she didn't immediately grow legs. Instead she lay on the deck, staring up at the rigging. 

"It's so complicated. All those ropes and metal-thing-a-ma-whats."

"Pulleys," David said, smiling. "At least, I think most of them are."

"Pulleys," Ariel repeated. "And what's that?" She pointed at Snow's hands and the kettle within them.

"A kettle. You use it to make tea."

"Tea?"

Snow walked over to show Ariel the kettle and what was inside. "Tea is hot water with leaves in it. You drink it."

"You drink leaves?"

"You don't drink the leaves," Snow said, patient and amused. "At least, you try not too."

"So you use the leaves just to change the water?"

Snow nodded. "Pretty much. It's nice to have something to drink that's not water."

Ariel asked her about the buttons on her coat, her hat, the knots in the rope and everything else she could see from her position on the deck. Snow answered best she could, and when Hook wandered over, his enthusiasm for his ship nearly matched Ariel's curiousity. 

David handed Emma a cup of tea and she wrapped her chill fingers around it. 

"Everyone all right up here?"

"Regina had a nightmare."

Emma winced. "About running away from some awful beast?"

"I think so. She said you calmed down after a while, but she seemed pretty unsettled at first." He appeared deep in thought, then volunteered, "we had a nice talk about magic."

"Oh?" Emma drank another two gulps of tea, then set the cup down. "Speaking of, look what I figured out how to do!" She remembered what she'd done to light her hands under water and brought the light back to her palms. It wasn't much in the rising sun, but it was something. 

David patted her shoulder. "That's great. Regina suggested that she and Gold give magic lessons, hopefully you'll be able to learn much more." 

Emma yawned and glanced at the deck. Regina and Henry would be up in a bit and Henry would probably get a huge kick out of meeting a real mermaid, not just his moms and grandma disguised as them. She wanted to ask Regina about the light, and apologise for ruining her sleep, but she yawned again. It wasn't just her knees that were tired.

"Are you guys okay playing twenty questions with Ariel? She really likes humans and seems to want to know everything about us. I-" she yawned a third time and this time it nearly split her face. "I guess I've been up all night."

"Get to bed," Snow ordered. "You can catch up with everyone else later."

"Yes, Mom. 'Night, Dad." Emma waved goodnight to Ariel too, but the mermaid was entirely engrossed in Hook's compass. He had a big grin on his face, so her enthusiasm was catching for him too. Dragging her blanket down below, Emma stripped off her bra and panties and crawled into bed next to Regina without even thinking about what she was doing. Now that she was safe, all she wanted to do was sleep. Regina would be up soon anyway. She probably wouldn't even notice.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I'm borrowing from all the fantastic Swan Queen I've read, but I'm trying to make it my own. Emma learning from Regina is just too much fun to pass up.
> 
> Some harsh language from Emma. UST.

The shadow was watching her. Regina walked down the streets of Storybrooke, the citizens moving politely out of her way. She ignored most of them, returning their nods to her superiority without much thought. The sun was low in the sky, casting long shadows that traced out the forms of bodies on the street. Regina's was particularly long, lying on the pavement at her feet. She watched it for a moment, idly staring at the silhouette of herself. 

It moved, shifting to the left, then the right, as if it was trying to shake itself free from her feet. Regina continued to stare in horror, as her shadow braced itself on the shadow of a building and tugged. Her feet were sinking, almost as if the pavement was liquid, but it was fine. The sinking sensation ran through her, almost as if she was drowning. Her shadow continued to pull, tearing itself free from her like a parasite finally ready to burst forth. She collapsed, dizzy, and it circled her, watching her with two gold eyes it had never had before. It crept closer, near enough to touch her, before it laughed. Still cackling with glee, her shadow flew skyward until it was gone. 

She woke in darkness, the creaking of the _Jolly Roger_ familiar around her. The only light streamed in from a few cracks in the ceiling. Leaving the bed, she headed for the small window before she stopped, trying to catch her breath. If there was no light, there could be no shadows. She was safe in the darkness, wasn't she? She stood next to the bed for a long time, trying to decide what she was going to do. Her heart was racing as if her shadow was still watching her, waiting to betray her, but there was nothing there. The only sounds were her breathing, the soft sounds of the ship and sea, and Emma's quiet breathing still in the bed.

Circling the bed, Regina paused over Emma and stared down at her. She must have returned in the early morning. Regina hadn't slept much or well. Emma's residual anxiety had made her sweaty and uneasy most of the night. It was probably Emma's fault that she hadn't been able to sleep, and Emma's fault again for the nightmare. She wanted to wake her and make her apologise, but Emma was so peaceful. Having her there quieted the unreasonable tension in Regina's chest. No shadow would dare rebel with the saviour nearby. 

Regina reached for her hair, tucking it back away from Emma's face. It was as soft as it looked. She tucked the blankets more comfortably around Emma and picked up the damp blanket from the floor. Hanging it on one of the pegs on the wall, she sat down next to Emma on the bed. Her heart was confused and that was obviously Emma's fault. She was too contaminated with Emma's stupid true love magic to think straight. The protective longing in the pit of her stomach would fade when her magic was her own again. Even so, as she sat there and tried to control her thoughts, Regina reached for Emma's shoulder, hovering just above her skin. As if Emma's body had been waiting for her, the faint blue glow appeared, following Regina's hand as she traced Emma's collarbones. 

Emma was naked, she realised when her mind finally put it together. Beneath the old woollen blanket, Emma was nude and she'd gotten into bed with Regina like that without a second thought. Where was her sense of propriety? Was this some attempt at seduction? Even as a married woman, Regina had never gone to bed without proper nightclothes. She wore embroidered gowns and Leopold had his own nightshirts. Even when they'd lain together as husband and wife, they had seldom been naked. Graham had fucked her naked, occasionally, but she'd always kept her control. She told him when to undress, how much to take off and how to undress her. Emma who broke all the rules, slept nude.

Was she unashamed? Did she think Regina wouldn't care? Was she flaunting her body so that Regina would care? She didn't care, of course. She wouldn't be labelled a prude by this woman from the world without magic. She couldn't compare Emma to her other lovers. They had not been together, not like that, but that was where her heart betrayed her. She felt something, perhaps magically induced, for this woman. It was more than the heat of contempt, or the slick fear of losing Henry. There was a softness, a kind of yearning Regina couldn't explain. She wanted Emma to touch her. She liked the way her skin tingled and drew in the power Emma had in so much excess. It was as if she were hungry and Emma fed her. When they were in contact, she was full and content, as if she'd had a full meal. Emma was somehow apple pancakes and coffee. 

Regina returned to her side of the bed, reluctant to leave, not when she could be with her. Emma was asleep, so she missed Regina undressing and folding her clothes neatly on the barrel that served as a table by the side of the bed. Slipping back beneath the blanket, Regina reached out towards Emma again. Emma's stomach immediately lit in response, glowing brighter as Regina's hand grew closer. Moving her feet towards Emma's brought more light. There was a purple too, a fainter glow that was nearly obscured by Emma's. Regina's skin had its own light. It was much softer, and if it hadn't been dark, she would have missed it entirely. Now that she saw it, Regina stared open-mouthed. She was responding somehow. Could Emma feel her when they touched? Was that why Emma had said it felt good to touch her? What was this? Some kind of echo of Emma's irresponsible healing that had saved her life? She couldn't ask Gold, not without revealing more than she wished to say. She wouldn't have her books until they returned to Storybrooke, which meant she had to figure this out on her own. 

She was still pondering when Emma rolled over, landing her hand flat on Regina's stomach. That blue glow soaked into Regina, and her own colour responded, forming a purple silhouette around Emma's hand. Her anxiety melted with Emma's touch, fading away as if the nightmare had never been. Regina rolled over and Emma followed her in her sleep, tugging her closer until Regina was spooned against Emma's naked skin. The light between shone through the blanket, nearly filling the cabin with that unearthly glow. Regina shut her eyes, willing Emma to stay asleep, for the moment to continue uninterrupted. Peace flowed through her, twined with warmth and safety. No shadow could hurt her here. 

She must have fallen asleep again, wrapped up in Emma's unconscious embrace because Emma woke next. Regina returned to consciousness when Emma's hand moved against her breast. At some point it had found its way there and held her, but now Emma pulled away. 

"Sorry," Emma whispered. "So sorry." 

Regina feigned more sleepiness than she felt and rolled towards Emma. "For what?"

Emma's face was pink with embarrassment (or something less innocent). "Snuggling."

"I don't think you need to apologise, Miss Swan. Neither of us were particularly conscious of what we were doing." Regina tried to keep her voice level, but something felt missing with Emma's hand gone from her chest. 

"You're not angry?"

Regina held up a hand, reaching for Emma's fingers until she saw what happened between them. Even with the streaks of sun coming through the deck, the light between them was vivid. "There's something happening between us, isn't there?"

"I don't know what," Emma said, without pulling her hand away. "I'm sorry if it's--"

"I don't want you to apologise. If you apologise then you've done something wrong and I don't want this to be wrong."

"No, no, it's just, I don't want you to feel like I'm taking advantage."

Regina's smile came unbidden. "Would you?" 

"Of course not," Emma said, flushing again. "I'm not like that. I somehow magically linked us together and we're all glowy, but I don't know what it means and I don't want you to feel like you--"

There were a hundred clever things she could have said, but none of them formed on Regina's lips. She covered Emma's with her finger, smiling. "I don't feel like that at all."

Emma's eyes met hers and Regina knew that quiet hunger. She carried it as much as Emma did. Emma moved closer, taking advantage of the silence. She was finally close enough. Energy crackled between them, tingling her lips like a cold breeze.

"Mom?" Henry's knock on the door broke whatever spell had been growing between them. 

"Just a sec," Emma said.

"One moment, Henry," Regina said in tandem. 

"Clothes," Emma whispered, slipping out of bed. Regina had hers to put back on quickly and luckily for Emma, Snow had made sure she had clean (for a pirate ship) clothing to come back to. Emma pulled her shirt on fast, tangling her hair, and Regina smoothed it for her as Emma tied on her trousers. They were so close again. The impulse to reach for her, to connect, vibrated through Regina. Emma leaned in, brushing her lips against Regina's cheek seconds before Henry let himself in. 

Emma had the presence of mind to turn their closeness into an awkward hug, which Henry stared at. All Regina could think about was how her cheek sang with promise and how she wished she'd turned in to the kiss.

"I missed your mom," Emma said, then waved Henry in. "Come here." Hugging as the three of them had no awkwardness to it. 

"Are you both going to sleep all day?"

"Hey," Emma chided. "Some of us were swimming all over the ocean, saving mermaids last night." She glanced at Regina and covered for her also. "And my adventures made it really hard for your mom to sleep. I think too loudly."

Regina remembered the grasping darkness from her dream and the fear her absurd shadow nightmare had sown in her chest shivered there. "What were you running from?"

"Some shadow creature that lives in the valley full of dead ships. Ariel said it doesn't have a name." Emma shivered, then laughed weakly to hide her fear. "I'm sure if it was really dangerous, it would have a name. Right kid?"

"I don't know. There's not much about Neverland in my book, and there's nothing about a shadow creature. Ariel said it's as old as the sea and her people say it's always been there."

"Ariel?" Regina asked, her hand still on Henry's shoulder. 

"Ariel's a mermaid, Mom. She's really funny, sings really good and loves human stuff. She got so excited over Hook's compass, Mary Mar- Snow's hair clip, David's hammer-- I mean, it's a hammer, it's not that exciting, but she's never seen them before. Human stuff is kind of forbidden in her kingdom."

"Can't imagine why," Emma said.

"Keeping out exterior influences can be important to some rulers," Regina said. Her mother had been careful to keep knowledge of magic quiet in their peasants. She'd encouraged the rumours of her own power, but tried to keep away all other powers in the world so that the peasants would never appeal to anyone else for help. 

"Her dad does seem kind of isolated, but she's going to talk to him and see if he can help us get home."

"Oh?" That was a new development. "How would he do that?"

"He's king of the sea. Apparently he has incredible powers. Snow, David and Mr. Gold went to meet him. Ariel offered to give us a good word and Mr. Gold made some kind of magic bubble so they could go beneath the sea. I wanted to go, but David said I needed to help Hook defend you guys while you were sleeping. Hook showed me a little of how to steer the ship, then I came to wake you up."

"So they went to negotiate with the merfolk king to see if we can be sent where, Storybrooke?"

Regina shook her head, killing Emma's optimism. "Storybrooke is a land without magic. This king-"

"Triton, Mom."

"King Triton may have vast magical powers, but he wouldn't be able to send us to a place without magic unless it was part of a curse." 

Emma frowned at the idea of a merfolk curse and sighed. "All right, so we'd go where?"

"The Enchanted Forest, I imagine." 

Henry's expression nearly burst with glee but Emma looked as apprehensive as the knot in Regina's stomach felt. There would be no escaping the evil queen in the Enchanted Forest. Snow and David would rule together, in absolute power, and Regina would be lucky to stay out of the dungeon. Henry didn't understand that though. He spoke excitedly about the Enchanted Forest all the way to the galley and kept up his questions as Regina tried to make breakfast. There was porridge, dried fruit, a few stray coconuts from the shores of Neverland, but it wasn't much to work with. Coconut and fruit made the porridge a bit more palatable, but it was far below Regina's usual standard. 

Henry brought some up to Hook, apparently he'd been promoted to cabin boy that very morning and he took his duties seriously. 

Emma poked around the last of her porridge and Regina idly stirred her own without eating much of it. 

"So, the Enchanted Forest again?"

"It was pretty overrun with ogres last time you were there, wasn't it?"

"It was full of ruins," Emma said, sighing. "I suppose we'll just rebuild?"

"With the six of us, I doubt we'll have to rebuild much. We can keep searching for magic beans, other ways to get back, but we may have to wait for Belle and the town to come to our rescue." Regina doubted they'd be happy to save her. Not letting her die may have been the cruelest punishment her former subjects had come up with. 

"Belle and Ruby are pretty clever, and Mother Superior and the Dwarves are there too." 

Emma's optimism was sweet, if unfounded. "If the trigger undid the curse, is there another way? Something that would bring everyone back?"

Regina stared down at her porridge, unable to meet Emma's eyes. She'd never told anyone. "If I lose my heart, it'll be undone."

"What?"

"I used a heart to enact the curse. If I lose my own, the curse will be undone."

"Being without a heart made your mother into a monster." Emma sensed she'd said something awful the moment the words were out and she lifted Regina's eyes to hers. "You're not like that."

"I still have my heart. If my mother had hers, maybe she could have--"

"I heard she said you would have been enough." 

"If your mother hadn't--"

Emma reached across, covering Regina's hand with her own. "I can't tell you what my mother was thinking, but I wouldn't have done that. I wouldn't take a life to save one."

"I spent my life hating her. My mother, I mean." Regina said, getting up with the bowls so she could do something and not have to look at Emma's sympathetic face. "I hated Snow too, because she took someone from me, but my mother--"

"You were a little girl," Emma said, standing next to her at the bucket of water they used as a sink. "You loved your parents because children love their parents, it's what they do. Your mother should have kept you safe, made you feel loved, but she couldn't. She didn't have the heart. That's not your fault."

"It's Snow's fault." Regina dropped the bowls into the water, wishing the clunk against the bottom had more satisfaction in it. "Your mother killed mine just when she would have loved me."

"Which was wrong," Emma said, reaching for Regina's shoulder. "What she did, the way she used you was wrong and she knows that. It's what's making her dark from the inside out. You saw her heart. You know she's paying for what she did."

"Not enough."

"So what do you want to do?" Emma asked. "Kill her? Kill me? Take Henry to the Enchanted Forest by yourself and raise him so that no one can take him from you?"

Rage burned within her sharp enough to chase everything else away. "Yes. Then he'll love me."

"You going to lock him up in a tower? Keep him from meeting anyone else? Henry will always love you, but loving him means letting him live his life. What would you do if he fell in love some day? Kill his lover? Lock them both up?"

"Of course not."

"Henry doesn't love you any less because he loves me, or my parents, or even the memory of his father." Tears glistened in Emma's eyes. "Can you understand that? Love isn't finite. Henry's a great kid. You raised him to be a great kid, and that means he has room in his heart to love everyone in his life. Especially you."

"I can't-" Regina stuttered. "I can't live that way. What if he doesn't come back? What if he turns against me? Your parents want to put me in prison."

"I won't let them."

"Emma--"

"Look, I'm the fucking princess, aren't I? I get a say in what happens. If I say you're not going to prison, you're not and that's final. You'll have to promise not to kill any villagers or plot to kill my parents, but I'm sure you could do that. All you want is Henry and if you just let him be Henry, you'll have him. You'll always have him."

Regina sank against the table, then sat on the bench, deflated of all her rage. "You'd do that?" 

"Of course I would," Emma said, sinking down in front of her. "I never used to think I was much good for anyone. I kept myself alone because no one needed me. I'd just mess things up. Being with me hurt people and it hurt me and it wasn't worth anything. In Storybrooke, with Henry and my parents, people want to be with me. I want to be with them and I don't understand it at all, but we're better together. I'm better with them in my life. Yes, it scares me. It scares the shit out of me, but it's better than when I was alone. I look at you and I see that loneliness, the kind I was so good at. I don't want you to sit in prison, I've done prison and it helps no one. You're just alone with your thoughts until they nearly destroy you. I won't let that happen to you." 

Regina's eyes stung before the tears came and she tried to stop them, tried to do anything to keep her emotions in check, but instead she slipped into Emma's arms as if she was drawn there. She knelt on the crude wooden floor of the galley, her head against Emma's chest, her arms wrapped in hers and she cried. She cried for the mother who'd never had the chance to love her, for the father whose life she'd taken, for the son she'd nearly lost and for herself and a thousand nights of going to bed in fear. She'd never been safe, not like she was now and she didn't know how to deal with it. Why Emma was being so nice. 

"I don't--"

"Everyone gets a chance at forgiveness. Everyone. What you've done can't be undone, but you can do better. Gold's trying to do better. He manipulated you and your mother and hurt so many people, but now he's helping us. You're helping us save Henry and get home and you were willing to die for the people you hate."

"I don't hate them," Regina whispered into Emma's shoulder. 

"They don't hate you either. You don't have to keep people away. No one's going to hurt you the way your mother did."

"You don't--"

Emma lifted Regina's head to look in her eyes. "I spent years in therapy in prison, talking about my life. I know what abuse looks like when its all grown up. Whether she meant to or not, your mother hurt you, terrified you. That gets inside of you, messes with your head. I've been pretty damn angry at the world but I didn't have any power to take my rage out on anything but the walls of my cell. If I'd had magic and a whole kingdom full of guards, who knows what I would have done. I might have been exactly like you."

Her throat was too tight to reply, so she held on to Emma. Someone, Henry, came and spoke softly to Emma before he left. Regina wanted to comfort him, but she was a wreck, and even seeing her like this would frighten him. She never cried in front of him. Not like this. Emma held her until she was quiet, even though the floor was uneven and Emma's leg had to be asleep, she held her.

When her tears dried up, Emma handed Regina a clean dishrag to dry her face. "I told Henry I'd said something to make you sad about your mom, and that you needed to cry for a bit."

"What did he?" Regina's voice was thick in her throat.

"He said he'd go learn to sail the ship and that he was sorry you were sad."

"He didn't--"

"He knows Cora scared everyone, but also that she was your mother, and you loved her." Emma brushed some wetness from Regina's cheek. "He's a smart kid. Very kind."

"I don't think he gets that from me."

"Me either," Emma sighed, shifting position and grimacing as the circulation came back to her leg. "I'm not that understanding."

Regina shook her head, dabbing her eyes again. "You've been quite understanding with me." 

"You're easy."

Regina dropped the dishrag in surprise.

"Not like that!" Emma protested, smiling. "I meant, I think I get you. You're afraid to be alone, but you think that's what you deserve. That's why you were ready to die in that cave. You thought that without you, we'd all just go on."

"You would have."

"Sort of. It wouldn't have been the same. Henry is never going to learn to cook without you, and I can't get him to keep his part of the apartment nearly as clean as you have him keep his room. If only for the future tidiness of the heir to everything, he needs you too."

"So my redeeming qualities are my domestic capabilities?"

Emma sighed and rolled her eyes. "Look, I didn't mean--"

"I know." Regina stroked her cheek, leaving a faint trail of residual magic behind her fingers. "I just wanted you to make that face."

"How'd you learn it all anyway? Didn't you have a cook and servants in the other world?"

"Yes, but just because I didn't have them didn't mean standards could be allowed to slip. My inability to cook frustrated me upon my arrival far more than you realise. It took me several years to be able to make myself anything I found vaguely edible. After that, it merely took dedication to reach the standards to which I was accustomed."

"So you had pancakes as queen?"

"When you're queen, you can have whatever you want," Regina told her, slowing getting to her feet. She was drained again, even a little shaky on her feet, but she felt lighter. 

"You okay to go watch Henry steer the ship in circles?"

Regina nodded, wishing one of the pots was reflective enough to let her check her appearance. Emma caught her furtive look and took another dishrag, this one damp, to Regina's face. "You cry prettier than I do. Whenever I cry my whole face is red for hours but yours isn't really bad at all."

"Thank you, Miss Swan." Regina caught her hand and held it, expressing her gratitude.

"You're welcome, Madame Mayor," Emma turned her title into something half-joking, half-innuendo and Regina was grateful they escaped to the deck and Henry as a distraction so she didn't have to reply.

* * *

Emma's parents and Gold arrived back by nightfall, emerging from the water on a huge wave that dropped them delicately on the deck before disappearing. 

Emma had managed to catch some kind of fish and it was roasting in the galley, assisted with the herbs Regina had found. It was less than ideal and they only had potatoes and onions to go with it but it smelt of food, so Emma was pretty pleased with herself. They'd had a quiet day. Henry had absorbed all Hook had to teach him like a hungry sponge, Emma and Regina had even picked up a little. Most importantly, Regina had cheered up and been good company. She'd joked with Hook and Henry, helped Emma make dinner and teased her throughout, it was kind of perfect in a way. She'd even smiled, a lot, and they'd all been the easy kinds of smiles that didn't have to be forced or hidden away. 

She hugged her parents hello and watched Henry greet them as well. Even Gold seemed relatively pleased. Emma and Regina volunteered to serve dinner if everyone came down to the galley to talk. 

“King Triton was really very kind when we explained that all we wanted to do was go home,” Snow said over her plate. 

“He's really not fond of Pan at all.”

Gold reached for the potatoes and nodded. “The shadow-thief and the Merfolk are ancient enemies. We are lucky our mission was one that foiled Pan, because it obviously endeared us to the King.”

“He can't send us back to Storybrooke,” Snow said, patting Emma's hand wistfully. “However, he's in charge of the wind and waves and he can set us on a fast course for a different home.”

“The Enchanted Forest!” Henry said, suddenly too excited to eat his fish. 

“It's safer than staying here,” David said, aware of Emma and Regina's reluctance. “We might still be able to find Magic Beans, or perhaps Aurora and Mulan have found some other survivors. It'll be tough, we'll be starting from ruins, but Snow knows how to live in the wild, I know how to farm. We all have skills we can use.”

“Regina knows gardening,” Emma volunteered. Regina shot her a confused look. “It's like farming, isn't it? Same principles?”

“Yes, in a way, but--”

“We'll need everyone,” Snow said, carefully looking at each face around the table.

“Well, it's not like I have any better offers,” Hook said, smiling at Henry. They'd really started to bond, and Hook might have been a less than perfect father figure, but he knew much about this world and Henry was going to need that if they didn't get back to the world of indoor plumbing any time soon.

Emma realised she was probably the least useful of all. She'd never lived without electricity, never hunted her own food. Maybe she could do camp security or something that didn't involve skills she really didn't have. Regina still looked concerned and it wasn't until Emma found her hand under the table that the fear faded from her eyes. 

No one was going to be imprisoned. Not Hook for trying to kill Mr. Gold, not Gold or Regina for their many crimes. Emma would dig her heels in with her parents if she had too, but she had a feeling if Regina remained helpful and the kind of meek she'd been lately, it wouldn't even be an issue. 

Hook took Henry up to set the sails for the Enchanted Forest after dinner. Gold retired to his cabin to scry for a way home and to try and reach Belle and Storybrooke. He'd tell them if he found something. For a few minutes, Emma, Regina and her parents sat together, finishing dinner. David and Snow talked about the beauty of the mermaid court and thanked Emma again for saving Ariel. The mermaid princess had been incredibly helpful bringing her father round to their side. 

Snow and David insisted on cleaning up dinner, banishing them all to the deck. They kept looking at each other in that way when they wanted to be alone and Emma was quick to get away before they started kissing. The wind blew strong from the southwest. Hook said they were on as direct a course to the Enchanted Forest as he could manage. The winds were good. It was only a manner of weeks before they'd hit land again. 

“Weeks?” Emma repeated to Regina when no one else could hear her. “Weeks is fast?”

“The southern sea is vast. There's a reason people usually travel here by magical means.” Regina leaned on the rail, looking out at the stars without focusing on anything in particular. “I suppose we'll have much time to talk.”

“My parents are going to love that.”

“Henry seems to. Look at him,” Regina said, smiling with her eyes soft. “All the people he loves are here. It's just one big adventure.”

Emma took Regina's hand, holding it close in hers. “If he's happy, then we'll make the best of it.” 

“I'll try,” Regina said. 

“Me too,” Emma replied, sighing. “I get pretty antsy cooped up. I don't even like long car trips.”

“We can practice magic,” Regina suggested. “You have much to learn and that way you can direct some of your frustration.”

“You'd do that?”

“Your powers are great and if you're in control of them it's better for everyone.” 

“You mean with the the whole lack of antibiotics and medical care, I'd better learn to heal.” 

“Healing magic ought to come easily to you. What you did to me was very difficult. If you can do that untrained, who knows what you could accomplish with any real skill behind you.” 

Emma smirked. “Thanks, that's vaguely complimentary.”

“Are you tired?” Regina asked, staring down at their hands. That shared glow was back, faint, but still present. 

“Not really. Why? Are you thinking we should start now?”

“You obviously have the magical resources,” Regina said, indicating their hands. “We'll do something simple.”

Simple meant levitating spheres of water out of the sea, across the stern of the _Jolly Roger_ and depositing them back into the sea. 

“Water is difficult to control because it can't be compressed or changed without a great input of energy. You can freeze it, or boil it into steam, but it takes much to do so,” Regina said, demonstrating on a handful of water that she froze solid before floating it up into the air. 

“So the whole specific heat chemistry thing bleeds into magic a bit?”

Regina looked puzzled. “Water has a very distinct idea of what it is, therefore it is difficult to control. Earth is easier, as it is constantly shaped and changed. Fire is difficult because it requires so little control to start and so much to keep it contained. I don't know how that relates to chemistry.”

“Bad joke about high school that you never attended,” Emma said. “Okay, ball of water.” She focused on making her energy into the outside of a sphere, letting the water fill up the borders she'd set until she had a neat ball of water separated from the rest of the sea. “Got it.”

“Now lift it.” Regina barely had to move her hand to raise hers from the sea. 

Emma almost had to resort to interpretive dance to move her ball of water a few feet. It cracked, pouring back into the sea. The next one exploded upwards, the third started to freeze because she was concentrating so hard. Emma formed that sphere of water so many times she thought the sea might have started to resent her for lifting it and dropping it again and again.

“Relax,” Regina said. “You have to let it happen. You're not forcing it, you're entreating it.”

“Ask it nicely?”

“Yes, if that helps. You're suggesting a line of action, the water is flowing with you, not being pushed by you.”

Emma pictured a giant marble track, lying over the ship. She lifted her ball of water as if it was the marble, then sent it rolling down. It moved faster and faster, diving right between her and Regina before it splashed into the sea on the other side of the ship.

Regina shook some water from her face. “You need to work on the integrity of your sphere.” 

“Sorry.”

“But your speed was excellent. You finally let it flow. Now you have to control it.”

Control was not Emma's strong suit. She made the ball travel incredibly fast, then creep slowly enough that it barely moved at all. She nearly hit them both three more times but never really mastered the slow, even trajectory Regina could do so easily. 

“What are you thinking?” Regina finally asked, leaning against the rail and watching Emma's latest effort with more patience than Emma had ever thought she had. 

“I'm thinking about making paths,” Emma said, frowning. “If I can get the right angle, it'll finally do the right thing.”

“No, no, what are you thinking in your heart? What emotion is guiding you?”

“Frustration. Stubbornness.” Emma sighed, then let the water go and stretched. “Awe and envy that this comes so easily to you.”

“This is one of the harder things I learned,” Regina said, waving Emma over to sit with her on the stern. She folded her legs neatly beneath her and managed to look regal, even in pirate hand-me-downs. “I didn't have Henry when I learned magic. I had no patience. I wanted everything to happen immediately and to be big and impressive. The little things drove me insane for years. Who wants to move a little bit of water when you can destroy a dam?”

“What happened?”

Regina's expression softened and she let down her guard again, reaching deep into her memories for something painful. “I was hunting alone. Snow and her father were up ahead of me and I was looking for deer. I found a doe near a spring and I called the water around it, trying to move just enough to cut off her escape so I could take the shot. I put too much power into it, the spring exploded up in a geyser, filling the valley and starting a flash flood before I could get my horse out of there. I tried to stop it but I was afraid and my fear fed it. By the time Snow and her father found me hours later, my horse was drowned and I was barely any better. Snow had to take me back on her horse because I was too exhausted to even do much more than hang on. 

“I caught the winter's fever after that. One of the servants had brought it to the castle and I was weak for a long time, stuck in my room with very little to do. I couldn't risk reading my books because Snow and her father came in without warning. I had a few candles that I toyed with until I could make them burn at whatever speed I chose. I had a little water and enough time to learn all I could do with it. I learned to make it spin, to turn to lines, to disappear into the air and eventually to flow exactly how and where I wanted it.” 

“So if you lock me up somewhere, I'll get it.”

“No,” Regina said, shaking her head. “No, the point is that I had to let go of everything else, to accept my own limitations before I really understood the purpose of subtlety. I didn't have the strength to do anything complicated so I had to learn to be subtle.” 

Emma took that in, sitting beside Regina with far less composure. “So I'm putting too much strength into it?”

“I think you are far stronger than you realise and that makes it difficult for you to do anything delicate.” Regina stood again, offering Emma a hand up. “I'll prove it to you.” She pointed out over the ocean. “See that wave?”

Emma nodded. 

“Pick it up.”

“What?”

“Pick it up,” Regina repeated. “It's just water. Surround it and scoop it up.” 

“But I--”

“Don't think about it,” Regina ordered. “Just do it. Like you always do. Rush in.”

Annoyed, Emma did just that, not expecting it to work. Instead, a huge mass of water, many times bigger than the _Jolly Roger_ rose out of the sea as if aliens were levitating it. It hung there, suspended in the air as Emma gaped at it. 

“I did that?”

“You did, and it was far easier than the little ball, wasn't it?”

“Sure, I just thought about it and there it was.” Emma kept her calm and the water still hung there, moving with the sea as if it were part of it but many feet above. 

“That's all you have to do with the ball of water. Just think about it and it'll be there. Don't push it too hard. You have more than enough strength to manage it perfectly.”

“How do I put it down?” Emma asked, almost afraid to drop it unless she made some kind of tidal wave accidentally.

“Think about letting it go home, rejoining the rest.”

Emma faltered, then she felt Regina with her, guiding the water back into the sea. 

Regina smiled at her, almost shyly. “There you go.”

“It was easier when you helped.”

“Magic is always easier with help. You helped me open that portal with the hat.”

Emma yawned, remembering how it had suddenly worked when they touched. “So why didn't you help me before?”

“You can't cause much trouble with a ball of water. That much water could have overturned this ship.”

“Good choice,” Emma said, wishing she hadn't asked. Regina looked as exhausted as she felt but her smile was still on her face. 

“Bed?” 

“That's hardly romantic,” Regina said.

Staring at her in surprise, Emma wasn't sure if she should reply in kind or just let Regina have her there on the deck. Hook probably wouldn't mind a show. “You want romance?”

“Only if you're capable, dear. We wouldn't want to rush things.” Regina swept past her and headed below deck, taking her mysteries with her. 

Emma tried the floating ball of water trick one more time but all she could think of was Regina in the bed next to her and the water exploded midair, like a firework.

“Control,” she reminded herself. “Lots and lots of control.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was sexier than I intended so I've raised the rating just to be safe. Thank you for all the kudos!

In their tiny bedroom, Regina stood in front of the bed. She should do something, but she'd had three relationships in her life. One had innocently not progressed past kissing, one had been arranged, so had required very little from her other than to be present and compliant, and Graham had done what she wanted. Emma was nothing like any of them. She wouldn't do what Regina wanted, but she wouldn't expect her obedience either. The fluttering in her stomach hadn't been since Daniel, but now it was back and she felt ridiculous. She wanted Emma, every part of her wanted Emma, and she didn't understand it but attraction didn't always make sense. There wasn't any logic to it. 

Perhaps it was just magic, drawing them together. She'd been attracted to Rumplestiltskin when he'd been her teacher, and her mother had loved him. If this was just that, perhaps all they needed to do was act on their impulses, get their foolish longing out of their system before it became anything serious. 

She wrapped her arms tightly around her chest. Emma was serious. No one was going to take her away. She wouldn't betray her, and that Regina had no idea how to cope with. Cora couldn't take Emma, circumstance wouldn't either. She would lose Emma when she drove her away and she couldn't even take her heart to keep her. She didn't even really want Emma to be her slave. She liked the fights, the bantering back and forth. No one stood up to her like Emma and she loved that about her. 

Maybe she--

She wasn't ready to even acknowledge that those emotions were a possibility, so she was still standing before the bed like a statue when Emma came in.

“You okay? I'm sorry we don't have any clean sheets--”

“I'm nervous,” Regina said, interrupting Emma. 

“Nightmares?” Emma could be so oblivious. Did she do it on purpose? Was she toying with her?

She was going to have to be direct. “I've been thinking about kissing you and the prospect twists my stomach into knots.”

Emma sat down on the bed, smiling a little and not beating a hasty retreat. “I don't usually bite unless I know that's what you like.”

“I haven't kissed many people.”

“I'm not a scary one.” Emma's smile widened and she patted the bed next to her. “Would you like to know how many people I've kissed?”

“Yes.”

“A boy at a dance, a girl after the dance in high school, Neal, a woman who liked to kiss me in prison, but she was harmless. A few people I was hunting down. Kissing distracts someone so you can get close enough for handcuffs.”

“That's it?”

“I didn't have much interest in anything romantic after Neal broke my heart and left me with Henry. I guess I went kind of cold.” Emma paused, then looked a bit sheepish. “And Graham.”

“The Sheriff?”

“I didn't know he was with you. He was pretty cute.” 

Emma did not mention that Regina killed him, or that she had compelled him to sleep with her. Do they need to talk about that? Should she confess? Will the knot in her stomach go away if she said it aloud?

“He wasn't really with me. Not in the way you might think. He found me attractive on a basic level, but he was just--”

“I know,” Emma said, reaching for Regina's hands. “You took advantage of him.”

“Emma--”

“Look,” she said, finding some kind of optimism. “You can't take my heart out, so you can't control me. If you take out someone else's heart that we both don't agree has it coming while we're together, we're done, because I couldn't handle that.”

Regina almost laughed, or cried. Her throat went tight either way and it was hard to find breath. “I wouldn't do that to you.”

“Then we're okay. We're going to need to talk about Graham, I think you need to talk about him, but we won't do it now. If you're not ready.”

“I'm not accustomed to-” she paused, trying to find the words she wanted in the swirling mess of her mind, “-Having a choice. Leopold was not my choice and I dared not refuse him. When I took Graham into my bed, I put him in my position. I made it so he could not refuse me.”

“It's not like that for everyone though, is it?”

“The peasants often have a chance of falling in love. Their marriages are less important.”

“And my parents.”

“Your parents are rare, a royal pair who truly love each other.” She tried to put disdain in her voice but the only thing she had was longing. She hated that about herself, wishing for what Snow and David. No matter what she did to them, they kept on. 

“So let's be rare,” Emma joked, leaning down and kissing Regina's hand. “I'm not going to force you, and there's no kingdom at stake if we decide we like being friends better. I can't stop staring at your lips, and yeah, I don't know much about what it's like to do this with another woman, but, for you, I want to try. I want to rip your clothes off and pin you to the bed, but, only if that's what you want.”

“If I want to be on top?”

Emma shivered, and even her fingers trembled against Regina's. “Then that's more than okay. I think I'd like you being on top.”

Turning towards her, Regina traced Emma's jaw and leaned closer. “What is that saying? There's a first time for anything?”

“Everything,” Emma corrected, making up the distance between them. “It's everything.”

Kissing her really was. She'd leaned closer still, but Emma was the one who connected their lips. Emma's mouth was soft, warm and eager, parting to let Regina's tongue slip inside. 

The rain began while they were kissing, drumming on the deck above their heads like falling pearls. Emma turned closer, changing the angle of their mouths. Regina wrapped her fingers around Emma's neck, burying them in her hair. She pulled her in and Emma gasped and let herself be pulled closer. Kissing Emma was nearly as heady as having her respond so hungrily. Something was rising within them both, urging them on. 

Regina broke their mouths, resting against Emma's cheek. “I want you to tell me what to do.” The request came from deeper than she thought she was allowing herself to go. She could imagine Emma beneath her, following her suggestions obediently, but she didn't want that. She wanted the struggle.

“Me?”

“This time, I'd rather surrender, if you'll allow me.”

Emma giggled, running her fingers down Regina's chest. “I can work with that.” 

The only light was the lantern in the corner and Emma reached over and dimmed it to nothing. She pushed Regina back, twisting so that she knelt above her. She kissed her again, deeper than before. They were too hurried and nipped each other, but the tiny flashes of pain made the sensation of Emma's weight on top of her all the more pleasurable. Emma stripped off her own shirt, tossing it without care onto the floor. The linen rustled and Emma brought Regina's hands to her bare breasts. They were small, but perfectly suited for Regina's hands. Emma's skin was cool, but her nipples were warm against Regina's palms. 

Emma dropped her head to Regina's stomach, tugging her shirt up with her teeth, then using her hands. Licking her way up Regina's stomach, she left a trail of fading heat behind her and a hint of that blue Emma light. Regina lifted her arms over her head and let Emma toss her shirt away as well. She lay beneath her, exposed, and Emma kissed her in reward, shifting her hips just enough to make Regina moan with want.

Lifting her head from Regina's chest, Emma grinned as she moved towards Regina's breasts. “They're as beautiful as I thought.”

“You've thought about my breasts?”

“Many a long, dull council meeting,” Emma admitted, nuzzling her way up to Regina's nipple. “Some of those tops of yours are worth at least an hour's worth of fantasising.”

Sitting up on her elbows, Regina chuckled. “Wait until you see my leather.” 

Emma nipped then, drawing the sensitive nipple into her hot mouth before moving to the next one. Emma's thigh dropped between Regina's and that drew another moan. The friction of Emma's leg against the ache building between her own was exquisite. She arched her back enough to drive them closer, reaching for Emma's bare back with her hands. She wandered down Emma's spine, caressing her skin and cupping the round flesh of Emma's ass through her trousers. Regina's nimble fingers made quick work of the rope holding them up and they fell from Emma's hips. Her one pair of panties were red striped. Regina had seen her when Emma became a mermaid, but now she got to peel them off, sliding them down Emma's hips. 

Shaking her head, Emma lifted herself off of Regina and turned their attention to her trousers. “No rushing ahead.” 

Unlike Regina, she took her time removing them, toying with the rope, easing Regina ever so slowly free of her clothing. Emma's thighs had slight stubble and that made Regina more comfortable with her own. There was no perfection. Their noses bumped sometimes when they kissed, and Emma's hair got everywhere. Regina's was probably starting to curl every which way, but none of it mattered. There was a joy in this Regina hadn't expected. She'd wanted Emma, needed to be close to her, but this fulfilled something in her that was waiting. 

Content that Regina was down to her own panties, Emma allowed her to wriggle hers down and off. It was nearly too dark to see the faint patch of hair between Emma's legs, but it was soft and silky in Regina's fingers. That light glowed again, leaving traces on Emma's skin. Past that, deeper, Emma was so wet Regina gasped in surprise. She tentatively flicked her fingers across Emma's clit and she shivered above her. 

Emma took her hands, holding them down to the bed. She took control, just as Regina had asked her too, but now she wanted to explore Emma's naked body, to memorise every bit of her skin. Emma wouldn't allow it. She teased Regina's breasts again, toying with one sensitive nipple, then the other, until Regina was breathing hard and trying to wriggle herself back to Emma's thigh. The friction of her leg came for a sweet moment, then vanished. So slowly, so controlled, Emma held both of Regina's hands back with one of hers and ran the other down Regina's stomach. She danced it across the black fabric of Regina's panties, teasing before she released Regina's hands and stripped her panties off. Emma's hands caught her hips, then Emma's mouth worked its way down Regina's stomach, then her thigh, first right, then the left. She always stopped short, licking and taunting. Emma's hands flicked across once, just close enough to make Regina moan, desperate, before the pressure was gone.

Returning to her stomach, Emma moved faster this time, the kisses she left were wetter, hungrier. 

“Please,” Regina said. “Emma--” Maybe it was the way she couldn't quite say her name, but Emma's control broke and she touched her. First her fingers ran over, then her tongue and then everything crackled. The light between them seemed to explode behind her eyes, purple and blue. She gasped, pushing upward into Emma's mouth, burying her hands in Emma's hair. 

Graham had done this sometimes, always obedient when servicing her, but this was different. Emma had made her wait, nearly made her beg and now, she vibrated under Emma's touch. Spiralling upward, losing herself until her world was undone by Emma's mouth and fingers deep within her, Regina lost. Something broke, perhaps it was her, and her senses whited out. 

Perched between her legs, Emma smirked, as pleased with herself as a cat, then crawled up and lay next to her. Regina's blood rushed, her head spun, even her toes tingled. She'd heard of orgasm reaching the toes but hadn't really experienced it. Perhaps she'd never let herself before. She moved before her head was still, reaching down, wanting to hear the same naked wanting in Emma's voice. 

She'd never been between another woman's legs, and in the dark, lit only by the strange blend of their magic that followed their contact, Regina felt her way. Emma was wet and yielding, eager to be teased and touched. Finding that bundle of nerves, she caressed it with her thumb, then lowered her mouth. All she could smell and taste was Emma; the sweet, needy scent of arousal and a hint of sweat. She licked circles, then across and finally discovered that sucking ever so gently, with her teeth carefully behind her lips, made Emma gasp in a way that set her blood on fire. Emma's breathing went ragged, then she stopped, pulling sharply away and dragging Regina back up to hold her tight against damp skin. 

Emma kissed her forehead, holding her close while her heart pounded so loudly in her chest that Regina could feel it. She snuggled in, letting Emma's slowing breathing guide her own.

“You really haven't done that before?”

“Not that side of it, no,” Regina admitted. 

Laughing, Emma pulled up the blankets and tucked them both in, Regina firmly at her side. “I'm glad your perfectionist tendencies carry into the bedroom, but damn. I'm not sure if I'm up for that every night. The walls of the ship have to be thin and between my parents, Henry or Hook hearing us, I'm not sure which is worse.”

The rain was still pounding the deck and Regina settled her head on Emma's chest. “I think the rain hid us tonight.”

“I'm going to have to learn to bite my pillow,” Emma quipped, toying with Regina's hair.

“You were incredible,” Regina said softly, letting her eyes close. Emma's blue light seemed to be everywhere, around and within her and she didn't have words to explain how amazing that was. She felt more than whole; it felt so peaceful, natural and easy. She didn't want to risk loosing any of it. 

Emma held her close, sensing her need, and that night, Regina had no nightmares.

* * *

Bringing Regina breakfast drew funny looks from both her parents. Emma protested that she just wanted to be nice but no one really believed her.

“Feel free to be as kind to me any time it suits you, Miss Swan,” Hook said, taking his breakfast with a smirk and heading up.

He and Henry kept eating on the deck, keeping up their lessons in piracy. Emma had to talk to their son, soon. She needed to tell him about her changing relationship with Regina before anyone else told him. It could wait until after breakfast. Henry deserved to know first, then she'd dare broach it with her parents. 

“I'll eat with her then come back and talk to you guys, okay?” 

“All right,” Snow said, smiling but cautious. 

David only had a smile. “Maybe I should bring you breakfast in bed more often.”

“We'd never leave if you did. Besides, who will make the breakfast if I'm in bed?” 

“I can handle pirate cooking,” David said. 

Her parents continued to joke with each other and were kissing before Emma was totally out of the room. It was sweet, embarrassing, confusing and nice all at the same time. Her parents madly loved each other. They adored her, and sure, okay, they were barely a few years older than her, but it was nice that they were so happy. It was so damn good to have a family. The kind of family she'd spent long nights wanting as a kid really did exist for her, and yeah, it was a little weird, but perfect. 

Back in their cabin, Regina lay on her side, still blessedly naked. The blanket had slipped down to her stomach, leaving her breasts bare. Regina's arm half-covered them, but they were right there. Regina's porridge was too hot anyway, so she blew on it and stood, adoring the view. Eventually she had to sit, waking Regina with a kiss on her shoulder. 

“Hey,” Emma said. “I want to say I've brought pancakes, crepes, omelets or croissants, but we have porridge and uh, I brought porridge.”

Regina smiled at her, sleep still in her eyes. She tried to rub it out, but yawned anyway. “Porridge is fine. Thank you.”

“You looked too good to wake up.”

That brought a touch of colour to Regina's cheeks. “Oh?”

“Your hair's all messy and you look so peaceful.”

“What?” Regina quickly stroked her hair, trying to smooth it. 

“It's fine. My hair's a mess too and I've been showering in a bucket on the back of a pirate ship. Imperfection's kind of hot.”

Accepting her porridge, Regina sat up against the head of the bed. “I haven't heard that.”

“It's intimate,” Emma said, holding Regina's tea until she wanted it. 

“And intimate's nice?”

Emma smirked and handed over the tea. “I'm pretty sure intimate was what we did last night.” 

Regina nearly choked on her porridge. “Emma--”

“Emma, you were wonderful,” Emma said, pretending to finish Regina's thought. “You know, I was just thinking you were pretty wonderful too.”

That made Regina flush again, even more pink. Extra colour in her face suited her, even made her look sweet. Emma settled in and watched her eat, trying not to be too obvious in the way she took in Regina's nude body. Regina knew, of course, but pretending was part of the fun.

* * *

They spent weeks alone on the ocean. Triton was true to his word and the only winds that found them were strong towards land. Ariel and her sisters visited often, bringing them food and engaging everyone in endless questions of the outside world. Merfolk food was all vegetarian, sea kelp and different kinds of sea plants. It was palatable enough, if bland. There wasn't much any of them could do with the herbs they had available on Hook's ship to make it interesting. Some of the sea vegetables were vivid colours, and one of them made an almost tasty purple soup. 

The only thing they never ran out of were the hard tack biscuits. Regina wasn't entirely sure what they were made of, but they didn't get mouldy, couldn't seem to be dried out any more and never really tasted of anything. She tried to eat them without complaint, everyone was eating the same and they all had different ways of coping with their limited supplies. Emma and Henry made jokes, coming up with different appalling nicknames for the sea plants the merfolk brought. It became worse when Snow and David humoured them by using the bizarre names. They could have referred to them by their real names, or asked the merfolk, but no, because of Emma and their son, the purple soup was "witchberry brew" and the green salad that David had become fairly good at making was "Charming's fish food". 

They couldn't fish anymore because the merfolk were friendly with all of the fish and taking their friends for dinner made them upset. Regina missed fish, but not nearly as much as she missed her own kitchen and cursed grocery store which always had what she wanted. Occasionally she cooked for everyone on board, they all took turns, though Emma's and Henry's turn was by far the most unpredictable. Once they'd come up with a half-edible red curry and once they'd managed to find a unique shade of grey stew that not even Snow could finish. 

Emma's use of magic and her control improved, perhaps acting on their impulses had quieted them for the moment. The light that had appeared whenever their skin made contact rarely appeared anymore. After several days, Emma mastered the water trick, and they moved on to fire and light. Emma had proved she could create a glow, but stronger light sources were more difficult. Sometimes she managed to made a mostly useful lantern, but fire was much more complicated for her to master than water. Water was an element that worked with magic, fire was often simply fed by it. Emma had more magic within her than anyone Regina had known, so for her, fire had strength she wasn't ready for. 

Hook's concern for his ship forced them to practice any kind of flammable magic while standing in a net he strung out over the side. Buckets of water were lined up along the side of the ship, just in case. Henry loved to watch and sat on the deck, enthralled as they worked. Emma's scorched her own hair, burned some of Regina's, destroyed two tunics and often had to throw herself in the sea, just to put out the fire. Snow cut the burnt strands from Emma's hair with one of Hook's sharper daggers and luckily she had enough left for it not to show. 

It was an odd, calm series of days that all crashed together like waves. They worked with the sun, rising when it crept above the sea and running out of things to do soon after it sank. No one questioned Emma and Regina retreating together at the end of the day. She suspected everyone knew, but perhaps Henry still hadn't deciphered the true nature of their relationship. David smiled at her a bit more gently, Snow occasionally made eye contact without flinching and Gold watched it all with quiet amusement. He said little, spending all of his time scrying, staring off into the distance and researching increasingly more eldritch magic. He spoke often with the merfolk, visiting their city many times. Henry even went with him on a few visits, enjoying the time with his grandfather. 

Regina was nervous each time he was off the ship, and even Emma's best distractions only worked for a time. Nights were the longest, and Emma made her talk, which was worse than worrying about Henry. She picked at Regina's carefully constructed walls, undoing them a brick at a time. Emma tried to give as good as she took, telling Regina how awful it was to grow up without her parents, how little she trusted anyone. How she'd met Neal and she trusted him but his betrayal had shut her world down. She'd had prison to think about how awful the world was, and when she'd gotten out, she'd cared for no one. 

She lay there at Emma's side, often unable to look at her as she heard what her curse had done to Emma's life. She'd wanted to hurt Snow and David, to make them suffer, make them all suffer as she had, but all that had done was multiply suffering a thousand fold, send it across many lives and leave them all open to Greg and Tamara, Pan and whomever else was coming after them. If she'd left everyone alone, slunk off to die alone when old age finally took her, everyone would have been happier. Emma might have had siblings and grown up with her parents.

“You have that look.” Emma interrupted her thoughts and kissed her bare shoulder. 

“I don't have a look.”

“You have that 'I'm about to wish I've never been born like George Bailey' look.”

Regina raised her eyebrows, attempting to convey that this reference to the culture of the world without magic would again need to be explained. 

“You've never watched it? It's on every Christmas.” 

“Is it a film?”

Circling her so she sat behind her, with her arms around Regina's waist, Emma got comfortable. “So our hero, George, is poor, has great kids, a wife who loves him, good friends, but he's poor and he thinks he's ruined the lives of everyone he knows. So he goes out and wishes he'd never been born. Turns out his wife is miserable without him, his town's a mess and his kids were never born. It's a classic.”

“It sounds deeply depressing.”

“In the end, he takes his wish back, his friends bail out his business and he realises how great life is after all. Which is not depressing at all.”

Regina tried to turn and look at Emma's face, but she couldn't in the position they were in. It was comfortable, so Regina turned her gaze to Emma's hands instead. 

“I'm not poor.”

“You have plenty of curse-money, sure,” Emma agreed, not following. 

“I'm not wishing my life away because I'm poor.”

“No, you wish your life away because your life was hell.”

“It wasn't—”

Emma kissed her shoulder, then the back of her neck. 

Regina tried to complete her thought. “I made it that way. I could have been kind to Snow, accepted my fate and been the dutiful queen.”

“I could have brought Henry home and left Storybrooke to go back to Boston. I'm not sure if I believe in fate and all the destiny, chosen one, sort of stuff, but it feels like we're here for a reason. Your curse, Gold becoming the Dark One, my parents-- all of it seems to be moving towards something in the future.”

“Something?”

'”Maybe we'll defeat Pan and bring peace to Neverland or find a way to defeat the shadow creature under the sea.”

Regina turned in her arms, looking into her eyes. “That sounds much like destiny, Miss Swan.”

“Maybe the book's gone to my head. Too bad there's not much in it past 'the saviour destroys the curse'. More detailed instructions would make this heroic stuff much easier.” 

Kissing her was simpler than talking, and Regina kept kissing Emma until the conversation was forgotten. If Emma was her destiny, she was never letting her go.

* * *

“What's going on with you and my mom?” Henry asked one evening. 

The stars were behind the clouds; the air smelt of rain. Emma had wanted to tell him something for over a week, but Regina hadn't had the words. What were they? Lovers? Friends with benefits? What were they going to be when the ship made land and life moved forward again? Surely this was a passing fantasy: something of the moment.

She knew better, and she couldn't lie to their son. “We're fond of each other.”

“Fond?” Henry pressed. “Fond like I am of waffles or chocolate chip waffles with whipped cream?”

Regina stared past him as Emma brought a fireball from the air and held it calmly in front of her. She'd been making great progress. No fires had started this week and her hair was safely back and wet. 

“I think it's more like a chocolate chip waffles type of fondness.”

“So you're dating?”

“Henry--” He knew better than to ask such things of adults. At least, he had. 

“What?” 

“Is it polite to ask someone who they're dating?”

He rolled his eyes. “No, but you're my mom, and she's my mom, and it affects me if you're dating, so no, it's not polite, but it's important.”

He didn't even apologise. He was becoming a teenager right in front of her eyes. Next his voice would change, then before she knew it, David would be teaching him to shave.

“Mom?”

“I'm sorry, Henry. My mind wandered. We have not been on a date, but that is more due to a lack of opportunity than a lack of desire. It is difficult to build a relationship on a small seagoing vessel, but we are trying.”

“So you're not just together because of Emma's magic?”

Shaking her head, Regina rubbed the centre of her forehead where her headache was starting to lodge itself. “No, this is more than a magical attraction. It has been for weeks.”

“Weeks?” Henry asked, eyes wide. “You've been together for weeks?”

“Do I need to remind you that it was your decision to have this conversation?”

“No, Mom. I asked. I just--” He took a deep breath. “But, you haven't dated women before, have you?”

“I don't know why this is relevant.”

“Just, you didn't date any women in the book and I thought that if you ever started dating, you'd date a man.”

They had only had the beginning of a discussion about sex after he'd learned about it at school, and now she was having a debate about the nature of human sexuality. 

“Is every part of my life in your book?”

“So you dated women?” Henry was far too fascinated by that idea. 

“No, I wanted to make a point.” 

Emma had finished with her fireball practice and was coming towards them. Would she arrive in time to share this awkward conversation? Would she make it worse? 

“Does it matter to you if I date a woman instead of a man?”

Henry shrugged. “Not really. I was just curious.”

“Curious about what kid?” Emma asked, clearly not understanding the look Regina was trying to give her. 

“If you've spent most of your life attracted to men, how'd you know you were attracted to each other?” 

Regina's mouth opened, but she didn't have the answer. Emma laughed. She sat down on the deck, ruffled his hair as if he were much younger, and smiled as if it was the easiest question in the world.

“That's the kind of thing you just know. Maybe you'll like women, maybe you'll like men. Maybe someday you'll meet someone who's not what you expected and they'll change your life.”

“Almost poetic,” Regina said, smiling. 

“So Mom changed your life?” Henry asked, turning his curiosity on his other mother. 

Now Emma blushed, and looked down before she looked up. “Yeah, kid. I'd say she did.”

Henry looked from Emma to Regina, then shook his head. “You two are almost as bad as my grandparents. I'm going to go talk to Hook about swords and piracy and never ask again.”

Emma punched his shoulder in approval. “That's what we like to hear.”

He paused in front of Regina, then hugged her. “I knew you belonged on the good side.”

She held him until he pulled away, then leant on the mast for support. Emma slipped her arm around her waist. 

“Look who's staying on the side of heroes.”

“He was happy for us,” Regina said. 

“Course he was. He loves both of us and us being together is pretty convenient for him. He gets both of us, all of the time. He's probably plotting our castle in fairy-tale-land right now.”

“Our castle?”

“Unless we live in Snow and David's castle. I'm a little iffy on fairy tale protocol. If I'm unmarried, do I live with my parents? It is a big enough castle that I won't hear them through the walls, isn't it?”

Regina leaned on Emma's shoulder. “Stone is very sound dampening, dear.”

“Oh good. So, I'm supposed to live there then?”

“I imagine you would. You're the heir, you have much to learn about running a kingdom. Henry would need to be there as well.” The pain she tried so hard to keep down gnawed at her. Everyone but her would be together, and she'd be alone again.

“And you,” Emma said. “I've seen you in city council meetings. You know a lot about running things. I'll need you.”

“I'm the Evil Queen.”

“Who hasn't done anything remotely evil in weeks. You were ready to die for the town you cursed and you know what? They were willing to risk their lives for you. They sent us down with that bean to save you. I'm not saying they'll be rushing to make you queen again, but I want you with me. If I have to live in my parents' castle and learn how to run their kingdom, I want you there. You can be my advisor, because I'll need your help.”

Regina blinked her stinging eyes and wrapped her arms around Emma's neck. “That would have been romantic if you knew how to be eloquent.”

“Teach me.”

Still holding her close, Regina thought for a moment. “Emma Swan, all the time I spend in your company is precious to me and only grows more so. I know we are but transients on our way to a new world that we cannot yet predict, but I refuse to conceive of life in that promising future without you by my side.” 

Emma's hands held her waist that much tighter, she leaned in close to whisper in Regina's ear. “Keep talking like that and I'll show you what precious really feels like.” 

Regina's knees suggested that Emma had her own kind of eloquence. Grabbing her hand, Regina led her down to bed to fulfil her promise.

* * *

Stirring the pot of boiling sea sponges, Emma fought the impulse to make Macbeth jokes. They didn't have three witches, just half a witch and her mother, but still, if Regina came to help they'd at least have three women. That was close enough. 

“Boil boil?” Snow teased her, as if she'd read her mind. “I did have a copy of the complete works of Shakespeare in the bookshelf behind my desk at school.”

“But you taught kids!” Emma protested, still stirring the sponges as they rolled over each other in the water. She'd managed to start the fire with magic and keep it contained to the stove, which was pretty impressive and her mom had been proud. 

“I needed something adult during my lunch breaks. Shakespeare always reminded me that there were beautiful ways to use language.” Snow took the spoon and stirred for awhile. “So, Regina doesn't need anything?”

“She hasn't joined the red team with us today, if that's what you're asking.” 

Snow smirked. “Emma, it's hardly something to be ashamed of. My mother and I spoke many times about my flowering and what it meant for my life.”

“I have to admit I feel more like a massacre, less like a flower,” Emma said. Menstruation was not something that went well with life on a pirate ship. Snow had known the right sponges to ask the merfolk for, which had triggered a fascinating and mortifying conversation with Ariel and her sister Andrina about human reproduction. Snow swore that the right kind of sponges would work just like a tampon. Emma still wasn't sure she wanted to be part of a conversation with her mother about how to put a freshly boiled sponge up that part of her anatomy but the alternative was a sticky mess, so she was going with it best she could. 

“So you and Regina talk about intimate things?” 

“Like when we're flowering?” It sounded ridiculous when Emma said it. “Not really.” 

“Because she knows?”

“Mom!” Emma nearly dropped the spoon into the pot. She couldn't keep it secret. “Yes, all right, she knows. She had to put up with the three days when I wanted to cry or bite everyone's head off, or just do both at the same time. She also might have known about my flower before I did.”

Snow laughed, patting Emma's shoulder. “Your father often makes such discoveries for me.”

Throwing up her hands, Emma shut her eyes. “I can't have this conversation.”

“We used to talk about your father.”

“Before he was my father! I mean, before I knew he was my father.”

“So let's talk about Regina.”

“What about Regina?”

“You're lovers.”

“Lovers?” Emma took a deep breath. It was easier that Snow had said it first. “Yeah, I guess. I don't know if I'd use that word, but it's accurate.”

“Are you using protection?” 

Emma blinked at her, absolutely confused. “Protection from what?” 

“I'm serious,” Snow said, starting to get that disappointed look.

“And I'm confused. You asked if Regina and I were- uh- together and then you ask about protection. We're women. What do I need protection from?”

“You're two powerful magic users in a world where magic is part of every day life.” Snow tilted her head, studying Emma's face through the steam. “I'd thought Regina would know to take precautions.”

“Against what?” 

“Magical impregnation, Emma, what did you think I was talking about?” 

“Magical STDs, or accidentally casting spells during orgasm, or turning myself purple, not--”

Snow removed the pot from the fire and contained the flames so it would turn to embers for dinner. She sat down on the bench of the table and patted it next to her. “How did you think fairies reproduced?”

“In eggs like dwarves?”

Smiling gently, Snow shook her head. “In a land with magic, you can create life with two women, or two men if you have enough magic. I know it's not what you grew up with--”

“Here I thought you'd be confused by the whole bisexual thing, but you're not at all.”

“Sweetheart,” Snow said, reaching for her chin. “Emma, your world isn't the only one where what people want and who they want it with is a bit more fluid than it is in stories.”

The sinking sensation that some revelation of Snow's adventures with beautiful women was following this admission lodged in Emma's stomach. 

“So you're okay with me and Regina being a thing?”

“I'm entirely okay with you having a 'thing' with a woman. I have some reservations about Regina being that woman-”

“Mom!” Emma interrupted.

“But I'm working on them,” Snow finished, putting both hands on Emma's face. “She makes you happy. I'd have to be an idiot not to have noticed that. And you, sweet Emma, you bring out the good in her. I never thought I'd see it again. I knew her, before, when she was just Regina and all she wanted was to be happy with the person she loved. I thought that Regina was gone, but I suppose I have to believe that darkness isn't permanent.” 

“You're not going to turn evil.”

Hugging her close, Snow nodded. “I hope so.” She continued to hold her, keeping her in her arms. “You might need to talk to Mr. Gold.”

Emma wriggled out of the hug. “Talk to him about what?”

“Magical pregnancy. If Regina doesn't know about the possibility she might not know what charms you need to prevent it.”

“I can't get Regina pregnant, Mom.”

An old sorrow passed over Snow's face and Emma buried it to ask another time. There was a story she hadn't been told yet. “She might think she's barren.”

“Because you never had any step-siblings?”

“My father had a terrible fever two winters after they were wed. He tried to make sure the story of his illness reached the servants, hoping they would spread it to the rest of the kingdom, but there are those who always blame the queen. No matter what the truth is.” The soft sadness that always came to Snow's eyes when she spoke of either of her parents returned. “He never blamed her and I was careful to make sure she knew I didn't blame her either, but there would have been rumours.”

Emma put her arms on the table and dropped her head onto them. “So Regina knows about the whole magical pregnancy thing, but you think she hasn't told me because she thinks she's barren and that means she couldn't get me pregnant either?”

“Clearly, you're not,” Snow reminded her. 

“Right.” Emma needed a drink. Pirates had rum, didn't they? There had to be some on the damn ship. “But you're worried she might be? We've only been out here a few--”

“Four weeks, Emma. We've been in this world four weeks, counting the time we spent on the island.”

“So, she could just be late and not in sync with us. You're my mom, it makes sense that we'd match up.”

“You need to talk to her.”

Emma lifted her head and stared at her mother as if she'd suddenly become a one-eyed ogre. “And say what? By the way, we're in magic land and since you're not actually barren, I could have knocked you up?”

“Perhaps more gently.”

“Is there a test? Some kind of magic one line means no, two lines means yes?”

“There's a simple spell the villagers used. I don't know if it actually works, but they used to swear by it.”

Resting her chin on her hands, Emma took a slow breath. She could do this. It was probably nothing. She was a magical amateur, not a real magic wielder, surely that counted against them in the potential baby-making arena. Unless her lack of skill made it worse. There had been that weird light, but it was gone. That meant it was over, right? 

“Would Mr. Gold know something?”

Snow nodded and Emma's stomach sank down to her knees. That would be a fun little chat. 

“He does seem to know a spell for everything.”

Pushing herself up from the table, Emma started for Gold's cabin before she lost her nerve. “I'm going to go ask him.”

“Emma, it's only a possibility. I only asked because I didn't want you to be taken off guard.”

“Considering I've already had one kid I didn't intend, my track record isn't amazing. I get it.” She smiled at her mother as best she could. “I'll get it sorted out. Don't worry.”

“I don't worry about you,” Snow said. “You're astonishingly capable.” 

“You lie like a mom,” Emma replied, returning to hug her mother quickly before she braved Gold's cabin and his inevitable mockery. 

The _Jolly Roger_ always seemed to shrink when Emma wanted to be alone and grow when she wanted to be somewhere. Gold's cabin was up in the bow, through the main hold where Henry slept. She didn't even want to think how telling Henry he was getting an accidentally magiced-into-being sibling was going to go. 

She paused at Gold's door and knocked politely. 

“Come in,” he said from within. 

Emma opened the door and tried to summon an expression that wasn't desperate. 

“What can I do for you, Miss Swan?”

“Emma, please.” 

“Emma.”

She fidgeted with her hands, wishing she had pockets. 

“Would you like to sit?”

Emma started to sit, then stopped. “I need a pregnancy test.”

Gold's eyes widened. “Oh?”

“A magical one.” 

“Well, that's a development, isn't it?” He dug through reams of parchment he'd been scribbling on since they'd arrived on board. Apparently he'd expanded a shred Hook had left in an old chest into reams enough to fill it. Some of it even looked like he was writing his own book, just to commit thoughts to paper. He used a blank sheet and took out a fountain pen. 

“There's a simple charm that the villagers often use.”

“My mother mentioned that.” So there was something.

He continued scratching out the list with the pen Ariel must have found for him. “But the ingredients will be impossible to obtain before we make landfall.” 

“Great,” Emma sighed, taking the seat he'd offered. “Is it complicated?”

“Not at all. Someone of your abilities should be able to cast it in a moment. It's just the ingredients you'll have trouble with.” He handed across the list. “Combine one of the plants with earth in a bowl, add fresh water, then drop candle wax into the mixture. If two drops float, separate from each other, the woman holding the candle is pregnant.”

“That's it?” 

“You have to drip the wax carefully, and it's better if the woman asking picks the herbs herself, but not necessary.”

Emma glanced down the list. A yam flowers, hawthorn berries or the stone of a ripe peach would all work when mixed with a pinch of fertile earth. She wasn't sure she'd be able to get any of that if she walked into a store, but maybe those were things you could just trade for. Was it peach season? Where were they landing?

“I assume this isn't for you?”

“How'd you know?”

“It's in your eyes, dearie. I assume your concern means that your relationship with the mayor has progressed beyond verbal sparing?”

“Yeah, you could say that.” 

“Then I wish you luck, with the spell and your relationship, however it may shape itself.”

She stared at him, confused for the most recent time in the last hour. 

“You're the parents of my grandson. I wish you both well, for his sake.” His smile appeared genuine and Emma attempted to return it. 

“Thank you.” She folded the piece of parchment twice and then fled before she could say something idiotic. 

Regina was in the galley when she returned and Emma's heart leapt into her throat. She passed the folded bit of parchment to her mother, hiding the handoff in a hug, before she sat at the table next to Regina and took her hand. 

Regina's eyebrow rose at the gesture. They'd been careful not to be too obvious, at least, they'd thought so. Apparently they were less than subtle. 

Emma shrugged. “I think everyone knows.” 

Snow hid her smile as she finished laying out the sponges to dry. “Knows what?”

If Emma had Regina's glare, her mother would have wilted, but she had no force behind it and Snow knew it. 

“Regina and I are together.”

“I think that's wonderful. I really do.”

Regina could not have looked more skeptical if Emma had announced she'd learned to cook from a five star chef.

“You do?”

Snow poured them both a small (very small in Regina's case, but Emma didn't think she noticed) amount of something from a stoneware jug. She lifted her crude wooden cup to them. 

“I obtained this from our dear captain. To new beginnings, for all of us.”

Emma lifted her cup and nudged Regina to do the same. Regina's grip on Emma's hand was very tight and a long conversation would follow that night, but for the moment, Regina trusted her that there was nothing to fear.

“To new beginnings,” she repeated, staring at Snow as if seeing her for the first time. 

The bootstrap rum stung Emma's throat but warmed her stomach. She maintained her grip on Regina's hand and settled in to a real conversation with her mother and her lover, which didn't go nearly as badly as she'd thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I debated with myself whether to go there or not, but I really wanted to give pregnant Regina a shot. Apologies if pregnancy fic isn't your thing.


	5. Chapter 5

When they finally saw land on the horizon that had no cursed master, it was Qin: a sprawling, secretive empire, booming with trade and culture. They needed supplies; everyone was sick of merfolk fare, no matter how kindly it was brought to them. They were exhausted with the exception of Hook, who was exhilarated by the journey, and Henry who soaked it all in. Regina was acutely aware of how salt water baths never felt clean, that her set of clothes was dirty, patched twice and on the end of its threadbare life. New clothes were a necessity, more food and books, games, something to do other than stare at the sea. 

The last few weeks still had that dreamy quality where the days never really seemed to start or end, they just followed each other, as endless as the horizon. Nightmares still chased her, always with shadows. Emma confessed that she often woke, frightened of her shadow turning on her. When she'd brought it up at dinner, everyone had agreed that the shadows in their dreams were always ominous. Regina didn't know what it meant, divination had never been a strong suit of hers. Gold offered that it may have an aftereffect of their visit to Pan's island, or perhaps their dreams suggested Pan was not content to let them slip away with Henry.

Henry seemed happily oblivious to the adults' concern. He'd made friends with the mermaids, constantly begging a transformation charm of his too obliging grandfather so he could slip below the waves with Ariel and her sisters. Ariel was usually under guard, as she was royalty, and the solid merfolk who defended her swore to watch for Henry as well. Emma said it was good for him to have friends and she liked the young mermaid princesses, they were funny and they had a unique way of looking at the world. 

Since Henry's options for companionship were his mothers, his grandparents and a pirate, perhaps the mermaids were an intelligent choice. He always returned from his undersea adventures full of stories and eager to share them. He mentioned once, almost offhand, that he had no shadow under the sea, and he liked how peaceful that was. Regina had been exhausted and only half-heard him. Her sleep was often interrupted, by strange dreams and trips to the bucket Emma affectionately called the jolly chamberpot. Why she could no longer sleep through the night was beyond her, but Emma was sympathetic and always held her close when she returned to bed.

Their relationship was a dream she would be happy to keep. Emma was an enthusiastic, if unorthodox, student of magic and Regina had never had the opportunity to delve into the soul of magic. Not with a willing partner who was happy to speak of the theoretical as well as the practical. Emma was concerned mostly with healing, and she had become adept. Regina had even cut her arm, in what she maintained was an accident, to test Emma's skills, which had not pleased her lover, but her arm was perfect. Emma had not even left a scar. Regina trusted Emma to heal Henry after that, which was what they were both after. 

Emma could also mend objects and clean them. She'd laughed when she'd realised how much she enjoyed shining the brass on the _Jolly Roger_ with magic. Cleaning mechanically had never appealed to her, but finding the order through magic helped her think. Since Emma had much time on her hands, the _Jolly Roger_ was nearly sparkling clean, with the paint and varnish as fresh as the day she'd first sailed. Regina hoped her enthusiasm would remain when they had castles to repair. The Enchanted Forest would be barely habitable and she did not relish having to continue to live on the ship while their home was made liveable again. 

David had arrived on deck that morning dressed in one of Hook's spare outfits. He wore the pirate attire well, even if his smile was too genuine for life on the high seas. Snow obviously approved and hovered around him, murmuring innuendos in his ear. Regina would have been more frustrated by the display, but her relationship with Emma's parents was slowly improving. Snow had been kind to her without watching for mistakes that meant she was sliding into darkness again. David spoke to her at length, about nothing in particular, occasionally even complimenting how she raised Henry. He and Snow had no parenting experience and dealing with Henry sometimes took the entire misfit crew of the _Jolly Roger_. His moods were stronger and sometimes he was so willful, Regina did not know what to do. They'd taken to letting him slam the door to the cupboard he kept as a lair and spend his time alone there until he felt better. Her sweet little boy was slipping away and a teenager was replacing him. 

"Any requests from the market?" David asked, bringing her back from her thoughts. "Emma wants trousers. I'm not sure what will be available but I can keep an eye out if there's something you'd like."

He was being kind, so Regina smiled and tried to find a request. "I prefer red, purple and black, if you have the option of colours."

"Of course," he said. "I'll do what I can. Luckily the three of you are nearly the same size."

Regina was about to protest that they were nothing of the sort when she remembered these were market clothes, not things from the dressmaker. 

"I'm sure whatever you find will be suitable."

"See, one vote of confidence!" David joked, pointing at Regina. "Someone trusts me."

"I trusted you," Emma said. "I just don't want anything frilly, or that needs petticoats."

Regina patted her shoulder. "We're in Qin dear, petticoats aren't on this part of the continent."

"Do they have pants?"

"Nowhere in this world will have jeans."

"I'd settle for harem pants."

"Wrong empire," Regina said. "Perhaps if we sail further west."

Emma sighed. "Dad, I'll just have to trust you not to bring back something hideous."

"Not hideous, got it," David repeated. "See you both tonight."

"Can I come?" Henry begged, waiting by Hook near the rowboat. "Please? I've never seen Qin and the market sounds amazing. Captain Hook says there are trained monkeys that jump through hoops."

Hook looked innocent. "I mentioned I had seem them when last I was here."

"Henry, I don't know if it's really safe," Emma said, trying to ease his disappointment. 

"I have no enemies in this port. It's a stable place, with law and a reasonable amount of order. I choose this port because it is known for its stability." Hook offered, trying to help Henry's case. 

"Perhaps if I accompany them?" Gold said, emerging from his cabin, his clothes suitably vaguely like Hook and David's. "I am an excellent bargainer." 

"Mr. Gold will keep me safe," Henry said. "It'll be a boys day out."

"We could be rid of all of them," Snow said, starting to smile. "We'd have the ship to ourselves."

Which meant Emma would happily spend the day topless sunbathing and perhaps indulge in what she loved to refer to as skinny dipping. They'd made anchor far enough from port to be comfortably secure. A whole day of Emma nude was tempting and even Snow's presence wouldn't detract from how much she would enjoy it. In addition, she was exhausted and dealing with Henry when he was sullen and disappointed because he wasn't in the port wasn't something she had the energy for. It was impossible to allow her own weakness in front of Henry, but without him she could complain to Emma and let her fuss over her. That was something she'd never had before. Her mother had expected her to recover quickly from any illness and her adult life had not had any room for weakness. Now Emma was nothing but sympathetic when she had a headache, or wanted to spend another few moments in bed. It made it easier to admit when her energy was spent. 

"I'm inclined to allow Henry's visit to the port," Regina said, looking to Emma. 

Emma seemed surprised, but went with it. "Well if you are, and Mr. Gold's going along, I'm happy."

"Yes! Thanks Mom!" Henry ran over and hugged them both before nearly bouncing his way into the boat. 

"You know you are going to have to row like one of the men, cabin boy?" Hook reminded him and even that did not deter Henry's happiness. Snow kissed David goodbye, Gold waved politely but settled in to the trip without much for a goodbye. 

Emma and Snow lowered the boat, letting Regina watch to make sure they were level. The ropes creaked and down the little boat went. 

"And you have the gold?" Snow teased. 

David held up the bag. "I do!"

Snow blew him a kiss and watch them row away from the side. 

Emma looked over the sunlit sea and that wicked look found her eyes. "A whole day without men. Whatever will we do with ourselves?" 

Her mother giggled, waving one more time just to make sure the rowboat was out of sight. "You're going to lay about more naked than a mermaid, aren't you?"

"You can't tell me you don't like lying out on the deck like a sunbaked lizard?"

"I do, and I like the swimming, I just have some things to tidy up below first."

Emma shrugged. "Suit yourself. Regina?"

"I'll come in for a while." Perhaps the water would soothe her aches. 

Snow disappeared below deck and Emma lowered the net down on the seaward side. She stripped off her clothing and threw it in before she dove off the side of the boat. Skinny dipping day was also washing day and since Emma had mastered the trick of using magic to remove salt from her clothing, hair and skin, she found the sea nearly as useful as a bathtub, though she did keep leaving little piles of salt on the deck. 

Regina watched her play. "You certainly do have an affinity for the mermaids, don't you?"

"I don't have any shells," Emma teased, cupping her breasts with her hands as she lay lazily in the net. "It's really warm today. Come on in." 

Removing her clothes with more care than Emma had taken, Regina dropped them down to Emma first, then climbed down the ladder. She didn't have the same love of the sea Emma did, but it was warm and Emma was beautiful in it. Once she was down, Regina submerged, running her hands through her hair. Shaking out the dirt before she returned to the surface, she treaded water beside the net. The sea beneath them was a deep blue void, completely devoid of shadow. She tried again to place Henry's concerns about shadows with all of their dreams. Was their a meaning she was missing?

Emma tugged her over to the net and held her close, letting the ropes and their bouyancy hold them up. "You have that worried look."

"Henry's been talking about shadows."

"We're all on edge about shadows," Emma reminded her. "It's brilliantly sunny today, there's no shadows beneath us, and the men are gone to shop. It's a perfect day."

Regina swam with her for awhile, until the warm sea felt cold and she retreated up the ladder to the deck. Emma tossed up their clothing, spinning the salt out with magic while it was all still over the sea. 

"Now you're showing off."

"I'm doing laundry," Emma corrected. "Doing laundry the best possible way." 

Regina laid their clothes out on the deck and sat down on a piece of sailcloth drying in the sun. The sun was warm without being scorching and she was tired. Only Snow was around to see her nude, and Snow was even less concerned about who saw her naked than her daughter. She wouldn't care. Regina lay back, her arms at her sides. The sail was soft, the air was warm and she barely had another thought before she was asleep. 

When she woke, Snow's clothing was on the deck drying as well, and she could hear Snow and Emma talking down in the water. Emma must have been nearly pickled by now, but she loved it so she'd probably be in most of the afternoon.

"Have you talked about it yet?" Snow asked, her voice soft and gentle. 

Sighing and splashing, Emma didn't answer. 

"Emma--"

"We've been busy with Henry. He wants to be so independent, but he still comes into our room with us when he has nightmares. It's hard to get a whole night's sleep when one of us has to comfort him."

"So you're not just tired because you're staying up all night for fun?"

"Mom!" Emma said and more splashing followed until both of them were laughing. "No, when Henry doesn't have nightmares I will, or she does, and she keeps getting up in the night."

"Oh?" Snow sounded curious and Regina could just picture her face. 

"She has to pee," Emma said finally. "She has to pee a lot." 

Snow's voice almost cracked in her throat. Why was she so emotional? "Sweetheart, you need to talk to her." 

"I'll bring it up today, I promise."

"I felt like I wore out the stone floor between our bed and garderobe when I was pregnant with you." 

Emma giggled. "You did?"

"I didn't know what it was at first. Your father was about to forbid me from drinking anything with dinner before we both realised what it was."

"So you realised you were having me because you had to pee?"

"It's a very reliable indicator," Snow said. 

Then silence fell between them. Regina retrieved her clothing and dressed, careful not to make a sound. What were they talking about? What was it? It couldn't possibly be--

"What if she doesn't want this?" Emma said, breaking the quiet. "I mean, it's not exactly an ideal situation."

"I had you when the world was falling apart," Snow said. "It's not ideal, but no time is. We seem to lead far from ideal lives." She went quiet again, then spoke with sorrow in her voice. "If Regina doesn't want this, you have to be supportive."

Emma's concern made her voice tight. "Is that safe here?" 

"She'd be ill for a few days, then fine. There are herbs and you're a fairly proficient healer."

More silence. 

"Okay," Emma said. "I'll support whatever she wants to do, but damn, Mom, this is hard from this side."

"I can't imagine."

"If it was me, I'd know what to do. This isn't great, but it's better than prison and you're here and I--"

They must have been overcome with emotion, and Snow's voice was thick with tears. 

"We're all here and we'll do whatever we can for you and Regina." She was smiling now, Regina could hear it. "I envy you, getting to experience both sides. Your father and I have talked about another child, but you'd think it so strange, wouldn't you?"

"That my sibling was younger than my son by a decade? Sure, it would be weird, but this life is weird. You and Dad ought to have the chance to parent someone who's not already set in her ways and knows how to drive a car." 

"Parenting you is wonderful."

"Yeah, but you ought to try it from scratch, you know? I'd like to. I've only got to see a little of Henry growing and I can't imagine how great it must have been to watch him walk, how cute he must have been as a baby." Emma splashed and then returned to the surface. "You know, if you and Dad had another baby, they could play together. Hypothetically."

"That would be lovely."

Emma thought she was pregnant? Regina balled her hands into fists and remained close behind the rail. She couldn't be. She'd been barren since she'd wed Leopold. The whole kingdom had known about it. 

Snow must have dove back in as well, because she spoke after a pause. "I always wanted Regina and my father to have a baby. Not just because I wanted to have a baby in the castle, but because I thought Regina would have made a wonderful mother."

"You did?"

"Of course I did. She was always kind to me, and I thought she was so beautiful, her babies would have been beautiful." 

So another way she'd failed the kingdom was not being able to give Snow a little brother or sister that she wanted. Regina would have to add it to the long list of things she'd done wrong before her descent into evil. 

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to improve your childhood," Regina snapped, forgetting that she was feigning sleep. 

"Regina!" Emma called, sloshing as she started up the ladder. "It's not like that."

"Isn't it?" Regina glared down at her and continued to let her gaze burn as Emma regained the deck. "I couldn't give Leopold another brat and I obviously made your mother's childhood a lonely one."

"That's not what I meant," Snow yelled up as she followed Emma out of the water.

"You know what she meant," Emma challenged Regina. "She said you would have been a great mother."

"But I can't," Regina insisted. Why didn't Emma understand? "I was broken, still am. I'm as barren as a winter stone and the whole kingdom talked about it behind my back."

Emma didn't bother to magic the water off her skin and pulled on her clothing. "That's not it at all. You're not listening to me."

"Why would I listen to you? You're obviously living with some kind of delusion that you and I can have a child together. I might have understood if you'd brought it up with me instead of gossiping with your mother like a pair of servant girls behind my back."

"Hey," Emma said, reaching for her. 

Regina angrily pulled back, unwilling to be touched, even by Emma. 

"I think you might be pregnant because there was that light between us, and so much energy, and I'm still only barely more than an idiot when it comes to magic. Mom said that in this world, if we both wield magic and we didn't take any precautions that one of us could get pregnant. I knew it wasn't me, but you never bled and we've been here seven weeks, I'd love you to be pregnant. It would be wonderful."

Tears fought their way through Regina's control and she hated the way they stung her eyes worse than the sea. "I can't do that for you."

"I think you're already pregnant." Emma said, smiling with nothing but love on her face. 

"That's not possible. I already told you, I'm barren and if I wasn't before, I'm sure casting the dark curse didn't help me."

Emma took another step towards her, hands outstretched. "I can prove it."

"You can't prove anything," Regina argued. 

Snow was beside Emma now, pulling on her own clothing and looking concerned. Of course this had to be in front of her. With Regina's luck, Henry and the others would arrive just as she lost all control. 

"David's buying the spell components for me. He has a list. I know it'll be positive."

"No," Regina said, backing up until she had no where else to retreat. "No, the spell won't be positive and I won't. I won't disappoint you." She couldn't hold herself together. Crying shook her shoulders and her entire body was tense. Her heart ached in her chest as if it were about to burst forth and show Emma just how much she loved her. "I hate you," she hissed. "I hate you for making me want something we can never have."

"You want a baby?" Emma asked, completely ignoring Regina's anger. "With me?" Her smile was so bright it cut into Regina's stomach. 

"Of course I do. I love you," Regina stammered as she fought to slow her breathing. "I love you so much I feel like a real person, not the evil queen. I even feel like you care about me. That you could love me back. Not because I have power, or because I'm beautiful. Not that I forced you, but for me. Just for being me. You could love me even with all my imperfections."

Emma held her hands up in surrender. "I do love you. I love you so much that you're my world. It wouldn't be right without you in it and if you're pregnant, I want this baby, our baby, more than anything." 

"There's no baby," Regina said, shutting her eyes. "There can never be a baby."

"It was my father who was barren," Snow said, staying back behind Emma. "He had that terrible fever and the healers told him he'd have no more children. I always thought he told you."

"That's not true. He never said anything. He always hoped I--" Regina broke, sinking to her knees on the deck. He'd let her blame herself. Her husband had allowed her to come to him all those years as the woman who had failed him and it wasn't true. She couldn't hide. There was nowhere to run. Sorrow, pain and guilt overwhelmed her and she couldn't breathe. Her chest was so tight her heart should burst. "It can't be," she insisted, holding her chest with both hands. She couldn't think. Her heart was so loud, so demanding. She needed it gone.

Regina stiffened, steeled herself and removed her own heart. It sat in her palm, red and bright except for a darkness that covered part of it like a horrible bruise. Emma gasped and Snow turned pale. 

"No, Regina, don't--" Emma pleaded, coming closer. 

Regina handed Emma her traitorous heart and wiped the tears from her face. With her emotions gone, what Snow had said made sense. That fever was known for spoiling the seed of men. All the times she'd been with Graham, Regina had closed her body to him. She'd preformed the magic to prevent her own pregnancy without even realising it. She hadn't done the same with Emma. She'd been open, receptive, even willing to take Emma's energies into herself.

"I'm sorry, Emma. If I'd known you and I could conceive I would have suggested we be careful. This could have been prevented."

"Take it back," Emma begged, her expression dark with panic and sorrow. "Put it back, please."

Regina shook her head, remembering how much her heart had hurt. "I can't. Not right now. I'm so much more rational now. I'll be able to protect Henry better and if I'm pregnant, I'll be a better mother to this baby." 

Tears began to run down Emma's face. "You can't be a mother without a heart. Look what that did to you."

"Perhaps," Regina said. Her relationship with her mother had been strained, but she was less of a bully. She could control herself more than Cora had. "My mother did make me the queen. Her methods may be more effective than I thought."

"No, Regina, this isn't the way. You can't be without your heart. You won't live like this," Emma said, fighting her tears. She cradled Regina's heart to her own chest, as if it were infinitely precious to her. "If you won't put it back--"

"I am sorry, but I would rather not at the moment. Later, when it's quieter, I may reconsider." 

"Then I'll keep it safe," Emma said. Determination burned in her eyes and even thinking rationally and unhindered by emotion, Regina couldn't have predicted what she did next. 

Emma took Regina's rejected heart and forced it into her own chest. Something snapped, like thunder, then Emma rose from the deck, arms outstretched, her head thrown back, as golden light burst from her like a sudden storm. Wind blasted Regina and Snow to the deck and the light shot upwards all the way to the blue sky above. Once it was up, it blasted outward, passing through Regina, Snow and the ship as it raced to cover the world. 

"The curse," Regina gasped. She had one last moment of peace, then her emotions came roaring back, just as if her heart was back in her chest. Fear, wonder, and a love for Emma that burned like fire raced through her. Now she knew Emma's heart as well, as if theirs had merged in Emma's chest. Regina shared the easy way Emma loved Henry, the growing love for her parents, the softer, old love for Baelfire and a consuming passion for Regina. Emma truly loved her, even with her faults and moods. She even loved that Regina loved her back so fiercely that she'd been unable to face it. 

Emma collapsed to the deck, unconscious and without breath. She lay as if her life had been spent in breaking the curse, her skin still glowing gold.

"You have to do something," Snow begged her, crawling across the deck towards her daughter. 

Regina followed her, kneeling by Emma's still body. "I can't take it back. Emma's heart is protected by true love. I can't just reach in."

Snow lifted her daughter's head into her lap, tears rolling down her face. "If you love Emma, really and completely love her, anything is possible." 

Staring at Snow, the woman she'd hated most of her life, Regina knew what she had to do. She stroked the hair back from Emma's face, letting Emma's shared love for her convince her that it would work. Regina didn't believe, but Emma did enough for both of them. She leaned forward to kiss Emma, then reached in for her heart. Her hand slipped in easily; Emma's defences let her through. Taking her heart in hand, Regina brought it back out, leaving Emma's beautiful heart where it was. 

In her hand it was momentarily half an organ before it bloomed into a whole heart. The bruise of darkness was much fainter, as if time within Emma had partially healed it. Regina panicked, nearly forgetting to breathe as she stared at her heart. She couldn't move. She couldn't take it back; it overwhelmed her. It was too much, too strong and she couldn't fight it. When it was inside, her heart controlled her.

Snow's hands surrounded her own and gently guided her towards her chest. "It's all right. Everything's going to be fine. You'll be whole again. You'll love Emma and know how much she loves you.”

Regina's heart sank into her chest and lodged back home. She fought for breath, then dropped her head to Emma's chest. She didn't think she had anything left to cry, but tears fell into Emma's shirt and she sobbed. 

A hand, Emma's hand, rose and stroked the back of Regina's head. “You know, you're even beautiful when you're a mess.”

“I am not,” Regina protested, refusing to lift her head from Emma's chest. 

Emma's other hand found Regina's back and lay there, warm and comforting. “You've been in my heart. You can't tell me it's not true.”

“Your perception of me is skewed.”

Emma's laughter made her chest bob up and down, so Regina finally sat up. 

“I like my kind of screwed,” Emma said, beaming.

“Skewed,” Regina corrected. 

Pushing herself up on her elbows, Emma found she could sit all the way up. “I like mine better.” She kissed Regina gently before turning to hug her mother. “I'm all right,” she promised. “Apparently my magical talent likes to follow instincts I don't know I have.”

“You broke the dark curse,” Regina said, holding a hand over her own chest just to be sure her heart was secure. “I lost my heart and you set it right.”

“I wouldn't call it lost,” Emma teased, wrapping both arms tightly around Regina. “I had it the whole time.” 

Clinging to her, Regina nodded. “I think it'll always be yours now.” 

Snow sat back, tears running across her brilliant smile. Emma reached for her and Regina didn't feel at all strange when Snow hugged them both, holding them both tight.

* * *

They were all useless wrecks when the men returned. Snow and Emma had some of Hook's rum. Regina had a taste of what was on Emma's lips, then water, then Snow made her drink more tea. All of them sat on the deck together, shell shocked and emotionally battered. 

Emma wanted to know what had happened to Storybrooke and Regina didn't know. She hadn't paid much attention to the undoing of the curse. Snow was still grinning about the potential baby that Regina was nearly ready to admit was a real possibility. When Snow and Emma recovered, Regina was still exhausted, still on the brink of tears and Emma held her head in her lap, slowly stroking her hair. 

“If we're in Qin, how long will it take us to get home?” 

“Months,” Snow said, stretching her arms. “We'd have to go around far to the south, then north again. Hook will know in more detail, but even with the merfolk helping us, it's a long trip. I've read that it's beautiful.”

“So we should get comfortable on the ship then.” Emma leaned down and kissed Regina's head. “Good thing you don't get seasick.”

“I didn't get seasick. I might now.”

“So pessimistic,” Emma teased.

“Realistic,” Regina protested back. “My head hurts, my breasts are sore, I'm hungry and nothing tastes right at the same time, I just got comfortable and now I--”

“I'll be here when you get back,” Emma said, smiling in sympathy. “You can tell me all about your breasts.” 

Regina kissed her even though she was infuriating, and disappeared below deck. 

“I'm not sure if being pregnant on a pirate ship is much better than prison,” Emma said, easing the kinks out of her legs. “How far is it over land?”

“Nearly a year,” Snow replied. “A ship is safer. Less bandits, more opportunities for supplies, and it's easier to run when we need to. It's a small space and not the most comfortable but she'll have you and all of us to look out for her.”

“You're really excited about this, aren't you?”

“I get to watch my grandchild grow. It's not how I ever expected, but I think she's happy. You're happy.”

“Stupidly, ridiculously happy.”

“What else could I want?” 

Emma hugged her mother tight, incredibly glad they'd gone on their odd little mission to rescue Henry as a group. 

When Regina returned, she lay down on the deck again, her head back in Emma's lap. “What do you think our town is doing now that they're back?”

“Dragging ivy off the buildings, clearing the roads, building fires.” Snow settled across from them, but her and Regina both seemed comfortable with the other's presence today. “I imagine Belle's leading them very well.”

“Can you imagine really going home?” Regina asked, her voice soft and nearly childlike. “I never thought I'd go home again after I cast the curse. I was ready to die in the land without magic.”

Emma sighed heavily. “I'm going to spend the rest of my life without a car, aren't I?”

“You can learn to ride. Regina's a great teacher.”

Regina's glance at Snow was confused. “I never taught you.”

“You taught me not to be afraid after my horse bolted and you always spoke so warmly about riding.”

“It was the only thing that made me happy,” Regina said. “I didn't know you listened to me.”

“I adored you,” Snow said, hugging one knee to her chest. “You were everything I wanted to grow up to be. Strong, intelligent, beautiful, independent and when I looked at you, I saw a queen.”

“Why are you telling me now?”

“Because you love my daughter and I'm not willing to be unhappy with that. I've done awful things, but we can start over, can't we?”

Emma wished she could see Regina's face. Her mother was trying so hard and Regina could thrust it all away, refuse to forgive.

Regina's voice was small, but hopeful. “I'm willing to try.”

Bursting with affection, Emma leant down to kiss her cheek. “I love you.”

Regina grabbed her hand and squeezed, perhaps not trusting her voice. She shut her eyes, trusting Emma to look after her.

Snow took Emma's other hand, stroking it then holding it tight. When Regina feel asleep again, Snow brought up more strong tea and damp rags to clean their faces. Emma was sure she was a wreck, but it was hard to truly care. She had Regina, they were safe and Regina loved her in the same insane, ridiculous, fascinating way Emma adored her. 

It was worth losing the beetle, and cheeseburgers (though Granny might still be able to make them), and maybe even indoor plumbing.

When the men returned, Snow told the story and did most of the talking. She quieted David's fears and helped Henry realise that his mothers being in love with each other was great, if a little intense. Emma hugged her carefully over Regina's sleeping body. She didn't want to wake her, but she was so proud of the kid. He'd come back in clothes from Qin, covered in bright embroidered dragons. He looked like a pirate kid from the third Pirates of the Caribbean. He even had a cute little round hat. 

David held things up for Emma to approve. He had found trousers, loose fitting, brightly coloured, embroidered with mythical birds and fish, but not a skirt, so Emma was pretty thrilled. The clothes for Regina were all dark shades of purple and burgundy and hers had mainly flowers, so David had choosen well. There were robes that seemed to go on top, that wrapped around and had long sleeves, and some with short sleeves. He had bright sashes to tie it all together, simple sleeveless tunics that went underneath, and there were even thin, simple tunics that went underneath everything like some kind of underwear. Snow mimed that the long bandages went around Emma's chest, underneath everything like a mummy bra. Emma probably didn't need much, but Regina would definitely appreciate it. 

Last, David handed her a peach, a tiny bag of dirt and a candle, all wrapped in a scarf. Emma held the ingredients tight, then sit it down in front of Regina. They'd cast it together, maybe after dinner, maybe tomorrow. Emma already knew what the spell was going to say. 

Gold's face lit up when Snow explained the curse was broken. He'd suspected when the golden light had passed through them all but having it confirmed brought a joy to his eyes that Emma hadn't seen. He glided to his cabin to scry for Belle and the others. Her parents had much to talk about and retreated to the far end of the deck, embracing and watching the sea. Hook had maps to the Enchanted Forest, a long journey to plan and a fresh jug of spirits he seemed thrilled to retire below with.

Henry sat down next to Emma and put a hand gently on Regina's shoulder. “She's really tired, huh?”

“She had a tough day, kid, so yeah, she's beat.”

“We'll look after her though, right?”

“Of course we will,” she promised, hugging his shoulders. “We're all family and that's what we do.”

“Right,” Henry agreed, grinning. “So, can I tell you about the monkeys?” he whispered. 

Emma nodded, smiling at him. “Go ahead. Tell me all about the monkeys and their little hats.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have nothing against vegetarianism, I was just thinking that folks who liked Granny's burgers might have some issues with merfolk food. 
> 
> I've very loosely based Qin on historical China, and our heroes are there more so I can play with Chinese fairy tales. Please forgive me if I miss history up.

_Regina_

 

They remained close to shore and sightings of other ships grew more frequent. Hook had a traders flag he flew to remain clear of the Qin navy. Some of the vessels that passed them were huge, with six masts or more and all their sails held open with crossbars. She'd read about Qin as a child, dutifully memorising that it was a great empire that traded in exceptional silks, pottery, and jade. Qin traders had little interest in the crafts of the west, preferring to be paid in gems, gold or silver. Regina had never thought she'd need to use the information for anything more than conversing with the occasional far-reaching trader, or polite dinner conversation. 

Now she was in the middle of it, leading Henry and Emma through the narrow streets and trying to prevent either of them from stumbling into anything dangerous, magical or cursed. Emma was drawn to the wide variety of roast meat on skewers for sale at every corner. Not knowing the words for the various creatures available for consumption did not deter her. Through enthusiastic pointing, she negotiated the purchase of some heavily spiced meat and passed over a few of the round coins with the square hole in the centre that were the currency. 

“You're not going to—” 

Emma grinned, chewed and swallowed before she replied. “It's good. Kind of like a buffalo wing. Might even be real buffalo for all I know. Here kid, try it.” She handed the skewer to Henry who enthusiastically sniffed it. Perhaps it was the weeks of vegetarianism onboard the _Jolly Roger_ or the way he'd try anything Emma suggested; Henry also took a big bite. 

Regina sighed. She was not about to indulge in the roast flesh of some unknown creature for sale in the street. “You don't even know what it is.”

“Some kind of red meat,” Emma said. “Is rat red meat?”

Fixing her with an imperious look, Regina sighed. “How would I know?”

“Eww,” Henry said, wrinkling his nose. “It would have to be a big rat.”

“A huge rat,” Emma decided. “One with red eyes and a scaly tail that crawls out of the back of caves in the dead of night, looking for prey.”

“What does it like to eat?” 

“I think if it's a big enough rat it eats whatever it wants.” 

Regina only half listened to them, putting most of her attention into the stall of scrolls and hand-bound books in front of her. The seas around Qin held unknown dangers and the merfolk could not be asked to continually protect them. She wanted charts, magical books and histories, so they would know what they would be facing. She dug through the pile, carefully choosing the ones she wanted. One had a particularly beautiful cover, engraved leather, and she drew her fingers over it, distracted. 

Emma grabbed her from behind, wrapping her hands around Regina's waist, then nibbled her neck. “Like your mom!” 

“Giant rats are not going to devour me, neither should you in public. It's rude,” Regina said, removing Emma's hands. “We don't know what the customs are here.”

Glancing around for the keepers of social order to descend on them, Emma shrugged and partially released Regina, keeping one hand on her back. 

“That's beautiful.”

The shopkeeper explained it was a three-legged phoenix, a holy bird. The book was full of protection spells and charms.

“What did she say?” Henry asked. It had taken Regina a good deal of time and effort to cast a translation spell on herself and she hadn't had time to replicate it on Emma or Henry. 

“It's a holy bird, something that protects people,” Regina said.

“Like you guys,” Henry said, beaming at both of his parents. She still hadn't become comfortable with that adoring look of his. Being on the side of good was confusing but it warmed her heart. 

Handing that book and four others to Emma to carry, she made her purchase from the shopkeeper. Paying slightly more than she thought they were worth, Regina didn't put in the effort to haggle it down because she was tired and they had more than enough money.

Emma wrapped the books in a strap of cloth and carried them in addition to the others Regina had already bought. She hadn't even complained about them being heavy. “What next?”

Henry finished off the meat and tossed the stick into a fire being used to glaze pots before jogging back. “Yeah, what else do we need?”

Regina ran through her mental list. “That's everything from me. Another lantern or two, if you see anything you like.”

“How about fireworks?” Henry asked as they passed the stall full of ornate, animal-headed explosives and fire crackers.

“Fireworks on a wooden ship?”

“We could shoot 'em over the water. Boom!” He smiled his most convincing smile. “They're be amazing.”

“How much allowance do you have left?” Emma asked.

“Sixteen of these coins.”

“Can you get a firework for sixteen?”

Henry frowned, watching one of the fireworks be purchased for a much larger sum of coins. “No.”

“Then you can't have any. Sorry. Maybe when we get back to our castle we can have a welcome back party with fireworks.”

“Really?”

Regina didn't want her raising his hopes. “Emma, that's quite far in the future.”

“We could have fireworks, couldn't we? It's a possibility, nothing more.”

She had to agree with that. “Anything else that interests you, Henry?”

He glanced around the street, then pointed. “There's shadow puppets over there. Let's go check it out.”

The idea of shadows, even used as play, made her nervous and she followed Henry close to Emma's side. As they sat on the wooden benches before the screen, Regina reached across for Emma's hand. 

Emma squeezed hers and kept her grip. With their hands between them it was fairly subtle. Regina hadn't seen many displays of affection and she had no desire to cause a scene. Emma's hand did help calm her, but her stomach wouldn't settle.

The show began with a deep valley representing the bottom of the sea and a pattern of waves for the surface. The narrator explained that the ocean was ancient and deep, full of mysteries. 

Regina whispered the translation to Emma and Henry, trying to keep up with the story as the heroes were introduced. She managed to explain the gist of it to them. A brother and sister were trying to dive for enough pearls to please the dragons and earn their help saving their parents from an evil sorcerer, but their boat wandered too far north in a storm. 

“In the bald and barren north there is a dark sea and in it is a fish, no one knows how long, with a back like Mount T'ai, so that many see this fish and think it is a mountainous island, out in the sea. His name is Kun,” said the narrator.

In the shadow play, a great shadow rose from the bottom of the sea and reached for the tiny boat, swallowing it whole. The brother and sister used their pearls to light their way out of the darkness and escape, with the help of a water dragon. The story had a happy ending, with the family reunited and the dragon puppets really were quite beautiful. 

The great shadow gnawed at the back of her mind and fear continued to churn her stomach as Henry dragged them to see the dancing monkeys. She watched for a while, then excused herself to head back to the books. Finding the oldest shop, with the dustiest books, Regina buried her irrational worries and told herself she was simply being practical. 

“I need to know about Kun.”

That shopkeeper kept her waiting for a long time, rummaging in the back of his stall. Finally he emerged with a somewhat tattered book with an old, cracked cover. 

Regina paid the price he asked without haggling and carried the book close to her chest. Emma and Henry had spent the last of his allowance on dancing monkeys and they were content to return to the ship when she found them. Henry hurried ahead with the speed of youth, though he stopped occasionally to peer at the bowls of beetles for sale in front of the bird stalls and the swords.

They would have to teach him to fight with swords, wouldn't they? He didn't have magic and he'd need to learn to defend himself. That twisted her stomach even worse and they walked in silence until Emma noticed the look on her face.

“You okay?”

“Henry's going to have to learn to fight.” They should have purchased some wooden swords so he could start training.

“Yeah,” Emma said. Squeezing her hand, she tried to comfort Regina. “He's going to be king some day. He'll have to lead armies, get married and look regal too. He'll probably have to dance and joust, do they have jousts in the Enchanted Forest?”

Regina stared at their son, trying to imagine him in armour. He appeared anything but regal, studying the clay pots full of scorpions and snakes with a look of awe. 

Regina pulled her handkerchief from her pocket and held it to her nose. She should have taken them left, through the alley full of clothing. The smells of the different animals all crowded in together was intense with the hot sun overhead and it was nearly overpowering. 

“We're almost back,” Emma reminded her, walking a little closer. “Try thinking about purple elephants.”

“I don't see how that will help.” Swallowing hard against a growing wave of nausea, Regina guided Emma towards the left of the next street. Horse traders were set up along the left and that was a smell she could cope with.

“Being distracted helps make you feel less sick.”

“How'd you know I felt sick?”

“I know that face,” Emma said. "I've made that face." Her sympathetic look brought warmth to Regina's chest. 

"I'm fine." Being closer to the horses did help as they continued. The familiar scent of hay, the musk of horse sweat and even the dampness of manure was better than the birds of the previous alley. 

"Sure." Emma shifted the bundles in her hands, swapping them over. She hadn't complained over what had to be growing heavy, nor would she let Regina carry any of them. 

"I assure you," Regina insisted, drawing on her composure. Her stomach was threatening rebellion but she wouldn't give Emma the satisfaction of admitting it. They'd delayed performing the pregnancy test charm. Regina had been drained after the dreadful exchange of hearts and Emma hadn't pushed. She'd told Regina about the charm and set it on the shelf in their room. Whenever they were ready was quickly becoming a familiar mantra. Emma already believed it was merely a formality and she'd become so much more protective in the last few days. She believed so easily, did that mean it was true?

Henry peered at the horses, then was distracted by the blacksmith at the end of the alley, turning metal to arrow points. 

"Can I learn the bow?" he asked when they caught up. "I should know how to protect you too."

Emma glanced at Regina, waiting for her acquiescence before she spoke. "I think you could start lessons with Snow if it's okay with her."

"Really?" Henry's eyes went wide. 

Regina nodded. Snow was the logical choice. A bow was less threatening than swords, though he'd inevitably have to use both, perhaps he'd enjoy archery. 

"Cool!" He cried, eying all the bows for sale. All of them were far too big for him and he had no idea the strength it took to string one. "Can I get one now?"

Regina exchanged greetings with the bowyer who'd set up next to the smith. She did have a few boys for children and indicated a selection on a table. They were much smaller than the heavy longbows Henry had been staring at but something more feasible. He'd need years and several inches before he could us a longbow. 

"They're so tiny."

"You're tiny," Emma teased. "Bows are hard to draw. Look," she said, taking one to demonstrate. "I'm much taller than you and I--" the effort of attempting to bed the bow strained her voice, "-can barely bend this one, and that's only a little bigger than the kid's ones."

"But Snow White can use one this big," he protested.

"She practices," Regina said. "She spent years learning to shoot and fight in the woods."

"So, when I'm older?" Henry said, smiling with new hope. “Like when I'm fourteen?”

"Perhaps. If you take well to your lessons."

Regina purchased a bow of pale wood, carved with a few baby lions. Henry probably wouldn't pay much attention to the decoration, but she thought they were sweet. She handed that, a quiver and a vast number of arrows to Henry.

"Why so many?"

"How do you think you learn?" she asked, quickening their pace to the ship before Henry could find anything else they needed. Her purse was already much lighter than it had been. 

"Can't I get them back somehow?"

If he was shooting out into the sea, most likely not. Although, Regina set her eyes on Emma. 

"I'm sure your mother could practice her magical skills by retrieving them for you." 

"She can?" Emma shifted the books again and frowned. "I can't move anything that small, let alone find it in the sea."

"You can't, yet," Regina corrected her. "You ought to be able to retrieve a few arrows without too much trouble."

"When did you get so optimistic about my powers?"

"Must be the sun, addling my mind."

"Right," Emma said without enthusiasm. "Let's get you back on the ship then, before you think I can do anything really flashy." 

She allowed Emma to lead the rest of the way to the ship. Now that they were all content the port was reasonably safe, Hook had brought his ship in to dock and disappeared to find 'entertainment'. The dock was as crowded as the street and the smell of fish, their entrails and the rejected fish of yesterday made the air pungent. Had it been this bad on the way into the market or was it just worse now that she was tired? Had she been spoilt by living in the world without magic and forgotten what life could smell like here? 

“You're really pale,” Emma said. She made them pause on one of the corners of the dock that twisted and turned without ending. “Don't keep saying you're okay.”

“I'm fine.” She protested, unaccustomed to being watched and noticed, even by Emma. Her stomach roiled and she shut her eyes, hoping that would help.

The dock stretched past them off towards the _Jolly Roger_ among the dozens of other vessels and Henry was nearly there already. Emma waved him on and took both of Regina's arms. 

“Here, sit.” 

“No, I'm all right.”

“Henry's with my dad, he's waving. He's totally fine. Now sit.”

Emma guided her down to the edge of the dock, facing outward towards the mouth of the bay. They stared out at the port full of ships with different coloured sails, many deep red. Birds circled overhead and the small boats propelled themselves with oars and poles between the larger ships. Looking at the far, still horizon helped a little, even though she wasn't moving. 

“I suppose you haven't thrown up in a long while, have you?”

Regina had to think. She'd been ill back in her own castle, before the curse, but that had technically been before Emma's birth, which was a bizarre thought.

“Not since before you were born.”

“Way to make a girl feel insignificantly young,” Emma teased. “That means you're definitely a cradle robber.”

Once she would have happily taken Emma from her cradle and raised her away from her parents, just so they'd suffer. That thought did nothing to help her nausea and perhaps guilt made it worse. She leant forward, staring down at the dark sea below her feet. 

Emma placed her cool hand on the back of Regina's neck. 

“How old are you?”

Turning her head slowly to look at Emma's curious expression, Regina almost smiled. “Why ask now?”

“I've always wondered and it might distract you.” Emma's smile turned wicked. “On the other hand, if you're about to throw up, you might be distracted from being angry with me for asking.”

Taking a very slow breath, Regina tried to decide if she should be annoyed. If she hadn't felt so awful, she might have had an opinion, as it was, anything that took her attention from her stomach was worth pursuing. 

“Do you mean physically?”

“How old were you before the curse?” 

Emma turned her hand over so the back of it was again cool on Regina's neck. The breeze off the sea was cool as well, but nothing seemed to help.

“Thirty-four.”

“And you lived in cursed Storybrooke for twenty-eight years, then another year after the curse was broken, so technically, you're sixty-three?”

Regina had never thought of it that way. Living the same day over again did not feel like ageing. Perhaps after Henry had arrived and he'd moved through time she'd aged with him, but not physically. Not as she would have without the curse. 

“In a crude sense,” she agreed. Leaning forward, she wished her stomach would just empty and get it over with. 

Wrapping an arm around her waist, Emma scooted closer. “I'll keep you from falling in.”

“That's an unpleasant thought.”

“Maybe you want to fall in first, then throw up.” 

“You're not helping.”

Emma feigned a pout. “I'm being distracting.” 

“You're always distracting.” 

“Perhaps I'm trying to be respectful. You are nearly a senior citizen.”

Regina swallowed hard. “So's your mother.” That was a more pleasant thought, even if Snow remembered none of her twenty-eight years inside the curse. 

“She's really trying.”

“If you tell me to try harder, I will vomit.”

“Maybe then you'll feel better.” Emma said, smiling that ridiculous, optimistic smile of hers. “She does like you, you know. All that happened between you two aside, she looked up to you when she was young and now she knows I love you. I think that's enough for her.”

“Your mother loves you enough to forget everything I've done?”

“Forgive not forget,” Emma corrected. “She forgives you because she gets it now. She knows how easy it is to lose yourself in darkness. Your mother killed her mother so you could be queen. Snow killed your mother because Cora gave her the power to do it and taught her that power is more important than being good. It's a knotted mess between you two and the sooner you stop hating her, the better our kids' lives will be.”

“You used the plural,” Regina said, swallowing hard. Her stomach seemed to have climbed into her throat where it continued to churn. 

“Henry and baby trouble here.”

“You are not referring to a child as trouble.”

“Our child,” Emma corrected. “Not any child. Ours. Well, maybe yours, mine and magic's, but I doubt magic's going to be that helpful when it comes to diapers.”

“Babies and magic don't mix well.” Regina pressed her fist to her mouth. “I tried...using magic, when Henry was a baby. Diapers...his high chair...none of it ever worked the way I wanted. Even- eventually I had to do it all by hand.”

“You'll have to teach me.”

Even though she was starting to think torture was easier to bear than pregnancy, Regina had to smile. Emma was a good student and having the help of a partner with a baby would be far easier than raising Henry alone had been. She just had to survive being pregnant, or food poisoning. It was still possible it was food poisoning.

Emma didn't ask if she was all right; Regina was grateful for that because she wasn't sure talking was going to be within her power that much longer. 

"You know one of the big advantages of being pregnant in prison?" Emma asked, allowing the question to be rhetorical. "You get your own toilet to throw up in and it's right next to your bed." 

Regina didn't laugh, she didn't even smile, but Emma didn't seem to mind. She kept talking: recanting how Henry had looked like an alien being on her first ultrasound, and how terrified she'd been when she thought about him moving inside of her. 

"I thought it would be like _Alien_. This foreign creature crawling its way around inside of me, waiting to burst out in a bloody mess."

"I don't know how this--"

"Hey," Emma said. "I'm trying. I can tell you stupid stories or be fussy and I can bet you'll like stupid stories better than any attempt to be gentle and romantic."

"You, romantic?"

"I can definitely be fussy." Emma said, turning it to a threat. "I could keep asking if you're okay; fuss over you because you're sick and be totally embarrassing." She stroked Regina's hair off the side of her face, then kissed her temple. 

Regina kept her eyes shut. "I don't know anything about an alien. Is it a story?"

"It's a film,” Emma began. When Regina didn't tell her to stop, she continued, keeping her voice light. “There's a space ship, a freighter, and they're hauling cargo, real blue collar space truckers. They're all in hypersleep. Uh, kind of like a cursed sleep that lets you sleep while your ship travels a really long distance in space. So, they're travelling and the computer wakes them up. There's a planet they have to check out. The company that sent them wants them to check out the signal. They all suit up and go down to the planet, and there's a dead alien ship there with this huge dead alien corpse. But the important part is all these eggs, they're in a weird field that keeps them from hatching, but one does and it breaks through one of their masks, wrapping itself around his face and sticking something down his throat." 

Emma patted Regina's hand. "And I should stop, because it just gets all gory."

Regina swallowed, fighting her gag reflex. The back of her throat burned. "Tell me. It can't make it any worse." 

"The thing on his face, the facehugger, because it hugs his face, lays an egg inside of him and the guy seems to be okay until they go to dinner. Then he starts coughing, something awful. Then the alien bursts out of him, right through his chest. It slithers away and they lose it in the ship. There's some stuff with the computer not telling them the truth and there's an android who ends up being evil. Meanwhile, the alien's, the Xenomorph, keeps getting bigger and bigger and they try to hunt it down but it kills everyone, just drags them off. Eventually Ripley, she's the hero, you'd like her; she's a total badass. She sets the ship to explode, saves the cat and starts to escape, but the alien is in the escape ship, so she runs back, tries to stop the explosion, but she can't. She has to use the escape ship with the alien on it. She gets into a space suit, when the alien's right there, watching her, then blows the hatch and the alien flies off into space.

"Then she burns it with the engines of the ship. It's a good ending and the cat lives."

Emma shifted position so Regina's head rested on her shoulder. "Then there's a second film, with even more aliens and marines, and a little kid. I'd offer to watch it with you, and we could hold hands in the scary parts, which is about as romantic as I get, but there's not really a DVD player lying around. I can tell you a less disgusting story without aliens if they're not your thing. I really liked it when I was young because Ripley was one of my heroes. She's strong, brave and never gives up, not even when aliens are coming after her and all she has is a cat." 

Regina let Emma pull her close and hold her. "Do you like cats?"

"Cats, dogs, lizards, sure, animals are great. Never really had any, but some of my foster families did, and they were fun. Animals never give up on you. Treat 'em well, and they're always kind to you." 

"Like horses."

"We'll have a few when we get back, won't we?"

"I had over a hundred as queen." Being held was comforting and the smell of Emma was familiar, even soothing. She let her hand rest on Emma's knee. "Tell me about the marines and the aliens." 

"Yeah?"

Regina nodded. "I like your stories. Even when they don't make sense to me and you tell them all muddled. I think-" she paused to smile, wearily realising she'd become so sentimental. “I think I just like listening to you talk.”

“Says the woman with the sexiest voice I've ever heard.” 

“You think I'm sexy when you've just spent the last few minutes trying to keep me from throwing up.”

“Love is blindness, or something.” 

“You love me,” Regina said, squeezing Emma's hand hard enough that her knuckles went white. “That might be worth being ill.”

* * *

_Emma_

Emma sat, paging through the ancient book on magic. After Regina had fallen asleep, she'd taken all the books Regina had purchased and was trying to go through them. She couldn't read the language, but she had watched Regina cast the translation spell and she was fairly certain she could do it. Regina had been so worried about shadows and she thought some of the answers were in these books. She'd meant to keep reading, but Regina had fallen asleep almost as soon as she'd sat down. 

Snow set her tea down on the table next to Emma then poured a cup for her daughter. “How is she?”

“Regina? She's asleep. She didn't throw up, but she felt pretty awful. She even admitted she felt sick, which means it was probably worse than I thought.” Emma picked up her tea and looked up from the book, straight at her mother. “It's weird. I threw up all the time when I was pregnant but I didn't feel that bad, you know? She hasn't thrown up, but she feels a hundred times worse than I did.”

“I think it's different with every woman. My mother and I never spoke much about being pregnant but she said it was magical and exhausting. I had Johanna to help me and David, but I spent most of my time pregnant with you worrying about what Regina was going to do to us. Sometimes I think worrying about her made me sicker than carrying you.”

Emma stared at her tea. “Did he feel like it was his fault? Dad, I mean. I sat with her for over an hour, telling her stupid stories about films I like. I didn't know what to say, or do, and I didn't really do anything but she seemed to like it.”

“Sometimes all you have to do is be there for each other. Maybe she doesn't think your stories are stupid.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “I recounted the plot to all the _Alien_ films. It was pretty stupid.”

“I'm sure she loves your company. She adores you.” 

“And I'm crazy about her. Is that enough? I don't know what I'm doing at all, and I don't know what she needs from me. I haven't done the relationship thing or really had any relationship. Not since Neal and we spent most of ours hiding out. I certainly didn't get him pregnant.”

Snow smirked. “No, you didn't. Regina's had a lonely life. Her mother couldn't love her, her first love was killed, my father didn't love her, so this is a first for her too. You can discover how to make it work together.”

“I'm going to need more stories.” 

“Tell her about you. I'm sure there's parts of your life she doesn't know.”

“So, this one time, in Philadelphia when I was chasing this bail jumper--” Emma sighed and dropped her head into her hands again. “Why don't I have good stories?”

“I'd love to hear about the bail jumper.”

“Thanks, Mom. It doesn't seem like the kind of thing you tell someone when you're trying to take care of them.”

“You're doing a good job taking care of her and Henry. You'll have months to figure it out before we get home.”

“And I inherit a thousand other things to worry about.”

Snow reached for Emma's hair. “I'm sorry you're stepping into such big responsibilities. If you'd grown up with us, we could have helped train you, make it easier for you.” 

“I'm still going to need you. I don't know which fork I need to start with, who we trade with or how to make laws, or make sure the kingdom has enough money to build castles and keep us safe from whatever's out there.”

“You'll have me, and your father, and all of our people will want you to succeed. You'll be a good queen.”

“Queen,” Emma said, shaking her head. “Me, queen. I'm the least princessy girl out there. Not that your archery and running around in the woods as a bandit is that traditional.”

“You do what you have to do and you have a good heart. That's all your father and I have ever done.” Snow circled the table and hugged her daughter close. “You'll be better than we were and Henry will be even greater. We'll have a golden age of peace and prosperity.”

“Even if I turn up with Regina in tow?”

“Regina saved their lives. Our people will remember that. They'll be so busy rebuilding and finding their lives again that as long as the palace keeps them safe and brings in enough trade, none of them will care who you want to spend your life with.”

“You make it sound like we're getting married.”

Snow rested her hand on her shoulder. “You love her, she's carrying your child and you already have a son together. In this land, you're nearly married already. The wedding will simply be a formality, something for the neighbouring kingdoms and an excuse to let everyone take a day off and have some fun on the royals expense.” 

“So you want me to marry Regina for the peasants morale?”

“Don't you want to?”

“Marriage is a big step.” 

“A baby is a much bigger step.”

Emma stacked the magic books. “But the baby just happened. We woke up one morning with the baby. Marriage is complicated but it's a journey. I'd have to ask and she'd have to say yes. We can't just wake up married.”

“She could ask,” Snow said, looking through some of the illustrations in the books. “Maybe she'd like to ask you. Having your own wedding, with someone you really want to marry is wonderful.”

“You think she'd feel it would be okay to ask? She's had such an awful life, yes, some of it was the consequences of things she did, but a lot of it wasn't. She was a neglected kid in a bad home. Just because that home was comfortable doesn't mean that she grew up with what she needed. That messes with your head, makes it hard to believe anyone really loves you.”

“She knows your heart. Emma, your hearts were one in your body, surely that has to help.” 

“Maybe,” Emma said, shrugging. “Sometimes the space between what you know in your heart and what you tell yourself is true is a huge one. I'll see what she says when she's feeling better.”

“All right. I won't push." Snow changed the subject by lifting one of the books with an elegant diagram of how to cast a spell to keep demons at bay. "So, what is all this, Emma? “Are these things you'll learn?”

“Maybe, if I have to. I'm trying to learn some more practical stuff first.” She lifted another book and opened it to the translation spell Regina had cast earlier. “This lets you understand any language you need to, until sunset or sunrise, depending on when you cast it.” 

“So what do you do?”

Emma picked up the oldest book, the one Regina had fallen asleep with in her hands. “You need a sample of the language you want to be able to comprehend, you focus on that, with it in your hands. Then open your mind, let it in so the wisdom of that language can be part of you. Regina said the hardest part was quieting your thoughts, my mind's never been that busy.”

“Didn't it take her most of the morning to get it right?”

“Yeah, but spells are different for everyone. I have trouble with fireballs, it's hard to stay angry long enough to keep them in shape. I've spent most of my life trying to understand people. Maybe this is like that.”

“Be careful.”

“It's just until sunrise. I can always sleep it off.” 

"I don't know if that's the best approach to magic."

Emma shrugged again. "I'm sure Regina or Mr. Gold can save me if I wind up speaking gibberish."


	7. Chapter 7

She knew Emma was gone before she woke up. Regina didn't remember falling asleep, but she knew Emma was gone before she opened her eyes. Her books were gone too. Emma must have been studying them. The idea of Emma sitting down at the galley table with her magic books while Snow and David insisted she do her homework nearly made Regina smile. Her head throbbed with a dull ache, but her stomach was quiet. Perhaps because the only scent in her room was wood and salt, neither of which she found unpleasant. Surely it was just the contrast between the cleanliness of the cursed world, where even the grocery store didn't smell of much, and this world, where everything was so vivid.

She rolled over and found the note on Emma's pillow. Her name was written delicately on the top, and Emma's at the bottom but the rest of it was in the ancient characters of the Qin language, which she no longer understood. It was dark through the boards of the deck, so it must have passed sunset and her translation spell had worn off. Neither name, hers or Emma's was in Emma's handwriting, but the characters seemed to have Emma's scrawling penmanship. Confused, she brought the note with her to galley.

Chopping vegetables on the table, David looked up when she entered. "Would you like some tea?"

She'd been expecting some kind of joke about her sleeping all day, but his offer seemed genuine. Regina sat across from him, her back perfectly straight. Now that she'd moved the dull ache behind her eyes had more teeth, but she wasn't going to show weakness in front of David. 

"If it's no trouble."

"Not at all," he said, wiping his hands on a cloth before he turned to the tiny stove they used for everything on board. "I have the water hot anyway."

He'd already chopped carrots, some purple vegetable that resembled an eggplant, but long and slender, and some green beans. A leg of lamb sat on the far end of the table, already boned. 

"How did you get dinner duty?"

"Snow's teaching Henry the bow. Ariel and one of her sisters came to visit, so they're retrieving the arrows while Henry tries to shoot. Emma went back into town." He bustled with the kettle and some kind of bark for her tea while he spoke. Had he had something prepared?

"I found this--" she paused and didn't finish with 'on our bed', just in case Charming wasn't ready to talk about his daughter sharing a bed with the Evil Queen. "I can't read it."

"Emma wrote it for you, in case you woke up before sunset. She cast the translation spell, but it went awry."

"And she can only speak the language of Qin?" Regina asked, raising an eyebrow.

"How did you know?" 

"My name and hers are written in a different hand."

He smiled, as if impressed she'd noticed. "That was Snow. Emma tried to get your name on it, but she couldn't make the letters in a way that looked right, so she had Snow do it. She seemed fine. Snow and I managed to guess she went to town to get the most out of the spell while it was on, but we're guessing." David set her tea and a small pot of honey in front of her. "I recommend the honey. This tea's kind of bitter."

"What is it?"

"Willowbark. It's good for headaches."

"I didn't say I had a headache."

"No, you didn't," David said, turning his attention to the lamb. 

"I don't understand."

He turned the meat, trimming the gristle and neatly slicing it into strips. He handled the knife well. Perhaps it was only Emma who didn't know her way around the kitchen. "I've been married a long time, and during the parts when I was aware of being married, I learned the 'I don't have a headache' look pretty well."

She could refuse it; inform him his instincts were misguided. That would get her nowhere, so she nodded her thanks and put a heaping spoon of honey into her tea, just in case it was as bitter was he said. 

"How did Ariel and her sister reach us?"

"Merfolk apparently travel long distances through the sea much faster than a ship can. No one's really noticed them in the dark. Henry's been waiting for you to wake up so he could ask your permission to go with Ariel back to her castle. She's in a concert and he'd like to hear it."

"He hasn't shown much interest in music before."

David grinned as he started to brown the lamb over the stove. "Maybe he's growing up."

"He's only eleven."

“Perhaps its just nice for him to have a friend. Ariel told me she's not much older than he is.”

“Perhaps.”

Regina took her tea with her, so as not to be rude. He had made it for her, even if she wasn't going to admit she needed it. He was too simple to consider poisoning her. Perhaps she'd have to become accustomed to David and Snow being kind to her. They were insufferable, but Emma loved them and they must have loved her enough to spill some of that over onto Regina. She'd never been part of a truce; never embraced the idea of a ceasefire. 

Carrying the cup wrapped in her hands, she retreated to their room. She sipped her tea, with the honey it wasn't bad. She didn't have much faith in its headache reducing properties, but her tolerance for pain had always been high. Regina sat on the bed, leaving her tea on the old barrel by the bed. She lifted the bundle of components from the shelf where Emma had left it. They'd eaten the peach together. Emma had licked the juice from her hands and the memory of her tongue sent a tingle down Regina's neck. 

Regina put the peach stone in bowl, added the earth and lifted the candle. She'd forgotten water. She drank her tea quickly, almost scalding her throat, then returned to the kitchen. The barrel of water was close to the door and she managed to fill her cup without getting David's attention, thus avoiding any more conversation.

If she was pregnant, maybe that was enough. Perhaps the blending of her blood and Emma's growing within her would bring them all peace. It was a heavy weight to put on a child, but this world asked everything of children. It asked them to be saviours and heroes, took their parents and gave them whole kingdoms to take responsibility for. There was no innocence in childhood in this world. Keeping Henry safe was hard enough, trying to protect a baby would be a constant challenge. 

Pouring water into the bowl, Regina lit the candle with her magic. The simplest spells often made her feel the most ridiculous when she cast them. Kitchen girls and farmers cast this charm; she was the queen. There was no more elegant way that she knew, perhaps this was one of the few ways women were united, regardless of where they came from.

Holding the candle over the water, she thought of Emma's easy belief. Perhaps it was simple for her. She'd never had reason to doubt her fertility. The first drop of wax seemed to be fall immediately and the time before the next stretched into aching eternity. She ought to have waited for Emma, who'd come up with something to talk about that would distract her. How she had developed such reserves of nonsense was beyond Regina, but she enjoyed it. It was different than the methodical way Regina approached her own life. Emma had a randomness in her soul, a part of her that jumped without thinking. 

When she looked down, a second drop of white wax floated next to the first. She hadn't even seen it fall. She dropped the candle on the floor in surprise, but managed to quench it with her mind so it fell harmlessly. Regina set the bowl down and curled up on the bed, pulling her knees up. Emma was right. She'd only half-believed her, went along with her fantasy because she loved her. It wasn't true, until it was. 

Regina had never had cause to doubt magic and now it was certain: Emma had gotten her pregnant. Had it been when she'd saved her? Had Emma put too much energy into the healing spell and made life where there was none? Had it been when they'd made love? Did they have enough magic together to create life? Why had it been her when Emma was stronger? Emma loved better. She was so natural with Henry, unorthodox of course, but love came easily to Emma. 

She'd brought it to her. Swept her up in her charming little family, where parents hugged and said their love aloud several times a day, and perhaps she'd stay there. She'd have to watch Snow and David hold her baby, and they'd love him or her as they loved Henry. Did she still hate them? Snow had given her blessing to Regina's love of Emma, even assisted as she regained her heart. 

Hatred didn't die easily, but she could bury it alive. She could force it down so far inside of her that it would not trouble her. She could start over. Be good, the way Henry wanted her to be; protect the kingdom because it would be Emma's, then Henry's. 

She had to get up. Face her new family, watch Henry learn from his grandparents and wait for Emma, because Emma was going to come back. Maybe she'd always come back. Regina got to her feet, left the bowl out by the bed, so Emma could see it, even though she didn't need magic to tell her. Emma was already sure. Regina smoothed her hair, grabbed her long coat and wrapped it over her tunic. David had chosen well. She even liked the colour. 

Bringing the cup to the kitchen, she had to smile at the scent of dinner. It was lamb stew, simple but hearty. 

“You should add rosemary,” she suggested.

“Oh?” David asked, taking out the chest of spices they'd purchased as soon as they hit land. It had cost a small fortune, but Rumplestiltskin could make gold from straw so they had thought it a worthy expense. She'd forgotten how far spices travelled in the world without magic. 

“It goes well with lamb.” 

“I'll believe you,” he said, measuring some with his hand. “Snow and Henry are up on deck. I bet they'd love to see you and there's more tea if you'd like.”

She handed him her cup to fill. “Thank you.” It had helped her headache a little and if she was going to spend time with Snow, she'd need it. 

Up on deck, beneath lanterns and the stars, Henry attempted to hit a target just off the side of the ship. His stance was nearly right. Snow corrected his feet and when he drew the bow, he looked so grown up. Regina could almost see him in armour. Sitting down out of his view, she drank her tea and watched him as he fired arrow after arrow into the sea. 

After he'd fired nearly a quiver's full out into the sea, Ariel and her sister tossed them back up in a bundle. 

“You hit the target with four of them,” Ariel reported from the sea. “That was much better.”

Henry ran over and thanked her, so excited about his progress. He did enjoy having a friend. He'd had none his age because they didn't age and each year he moved on to a new class. He hadn't noticed thanks to the curse, but he'd had a very lonely childhood. Regina hadn't thought much of it. He'd had her complete attention and her love. She'd grown up alone with her parents, aside for tutors and servants and that had seemed normal to her. 

It wasn't. This was what he wanted. His grandmother ruffling his hair and telling him how good he was getting. Friends nearly his age who laughed at his jokes, even if they did have fins below their waists. 

Finishing her tea, Regina set the cup down in a safe place on the deck and crossed to Henry. 

He smiled when he saw her and held up the bow. “I can shoot it now, Mom. It's really cool. I've hit the target fifteen times.”

“Sixteen,” Ariel said. “You just got four, remember?”

“Sixteen!” Regina said, pride warming her chest. “I'm very impressed.”

“How was your nap? Emma said you were tired.”

“I was.” 

They had to tell him, but it didn't have to be tonight. He could enjoy himself tonight. 

She forced a very bright smile. “I'm fine now. The translation spell just wore me out.”

“It didn't make Emma tired.”

“No?”

“Well, she might have said she was tired, but she doesn't really speak English right now. She hugged me though, seemed happy enough.”

“Emma cast it incorrectly, which is most likely why it did not drain her.” 

Henry's look turned to concern. “Will she be okay? You can fix it, right? She's not going to have to learn English again is she?” 

“No, no, she'll be fine. It'll wear off by morning and she's probably having a very interesting time in the town.”

“Maybe she can learn that game. The one with the stones. That looked like fun.” 

Regina hugged him. “So, I heard you want to go to a concert under the sea.”

“Please can I? Ariel's invited me and her dad says it's okay. I can sleep over in the castle and see the whales and--”

“You can go.”

“I can?”

“You can. Have fun, say hello to the whales for me.” 

This time he hugged her, holding her tight then released her quickly. “Thanks, Mom. You're the best.” He ran to the side and started taking off his clothes.

“Wait, don't you need a transformation charm from Mr. Gold?”

“No, I don't anymore. I have this amulet,” he said, pulling it out from beneath his shirt. “I got it from Ariel's aunt. On land I have legs, under the sea I'm a merman. It's really cool.”

“And she just gave it to you?”

“Yeah, she's really nice. She was trying to save me time, make it easier for me to visit.”

Skeptical, Regina reached for the amulet. It was made of coral, hung on a coral chain with a deep blue shell and a bright green shell set in it. It was cold to the touch, like the sea. 

Henry snatched it quickly out of her grasp. “It was a gift, all right? It works great. You'll see.”

He finished taking off his clothes and when she gave him a look, he folded them. He still looked like a boy in his shorts. He gave her another smile and then climbed up and jumped over the side. After his splash, Regina hurried to look over the side, Snow next to her. 

Henry had transformed into a merman and waved his tail gleefully at her to prove it. 

“That's incredible,” Snow said. 

“It must be a very powerful amulet.” Regina stared down at Henry. “You'll be back tomorrow?”

“Ariel, give her the shell.”

Ariel tossed up a conch shell and Snow caught it. 

“When it glows, hold it up and you'll be able to hear me,” Henry said. He waved one more time. “Bye Mom, bye Grandma. See you tomorrow.”

“Good luck with your concert Ariel,” Snow called. “Have fun, Henry.”

After a trio of splashes, Ariel, her sister and Henry disappeared beneath the dark water. Regina wrapped her hands around the rail, trying not to let his absence bother her. 

Snow patted her arm. “He'll be safe. The merfolk capital is very safe. There are magical wards and a whole army protecting him. He's probably safer there than he is here.”

“Thank you,” she said without much enthusiasm. 

“How are you feeling?” Snow asked, too sympathetically. 

“Fine.”

“Headache?”

Had everyone on the ship become psychic? Regina contemplated lying and decided there was no point. If Snow wanted to be sympathetic, might as well let her. 

“Yes. David gave me tea.”

“Willowbark's great for headaches. If you're still sick to your stomach we can try ginger, or mint. I think I have some mint.”

She stared at Snow, looking for the ulterior motive. “Why are you worried about me?”

“Emma said you weren't feeling well. She asked us to look after you. At least, that's what we think she wanted. David and I only know a word or two in the language of Qin. I'm not trying to hover.”

“You're being nice,” Regina said, somewhere between confused and frustrated. Some part of her liked that Snow cared. Even if she was fussing. “No one here's to see you. You don't have to continue the charade.”

Snow patted her arm again. “It's not a charade. I had dreadful headaches when I was pregnant with Emma. If there's anything I can do to help, I want to.”

“Because Emma asked you to?”

“Because you're having my daughter's baby. And she's so excited, confused and guilty because she thinks its all her fault for not being able to control her magic.” 

Regina tightened her grip on the side of the ship. “It's no one's fault.” Of course Snow believed as easily as Emma did. Was good so gullible? 

“I hope you don't mind me saying this, but I think it's fantastic.” 

“You do?”

“Of course I do. Emma's a great mother and you've raised Henry so well. You're loving parents, and another child is a wonderful thing. Henry will have a sister, or a brother, and this time Emma will get to see her walk and learn to speak.” Snow's eyes shone bright with joy. 

“You missed that part of Emma's life.”

“I'll get to see Emma's child,” Snow said, keeping her smile. “I missed watching Emma grow, but I get to see my grandchild. That's a good thing.” 

“Even if your grandchild comes from me.”

Snow took both of her shoulders and turned her from the sea. She had the sincere look, that determination that had never broken. Regina had never seen it directed at her. “There is good in you. I've wanted to see it again for years, and Emma brings it out. I think this is might be your happy ending. Emma, Henry and your baby.”

Regina should have left, saying anything more would make her too vulnerable, but she never learned. “Your people will never allow the Evil Queen to sit beside the saviour and rule your kingdom.”

“Then be Regina. Sit beside Emma and help keep the kingdom safe. Help her learn to manage trade and pass laws and look regal when she needs to be.” 

“I doubt anyone can teach her to do that.” 

“But you'll try?”

Regina nodded, blaming her pregnancy for the way her eyes stung, her throat was tight and that she embraced Snow back when she hugged her. Obviously her condition was altering her judgement.

* * *

The port town was vastly different when she understood what was going on. Emma could read all the signs, shop names, prayer banners, advertisements tacked up on the sides of buildings. She understood what people were saying when they called in the street. One man was selling peaches, the other had cherries. There was music in the square, folk songs about magical birds and the women who fell in love with them. 

It was a vibrant, fascinating place. She wandered as the shops closed down for the night and people headed home. Some people drank in the street, playing the game with stones Henry had liked to watch so much. She watched, learning the rules as they played. Emma was fairly confident she could teach it to Henry when she moved on. 

There was a chime she wanted to find. She kept hearing it carry through the streets and she wanted to know what it was. Following the chime led to an ornately painted wooden gate, that led into some kind of temple. The air hung thick with incense and Emma heard whispered prayers. 

She walked forward, heading towards the altar out of curiosity. It was beautiful, a carving of a deity who stared down at her benevolently. She didn't bow like the others, but she stayed respectfully back. This protector couldn't help her with the shadows, but maybe someone here could. Emma walked among the people praying, listening the scattered whispers of them pouring out their hopes and dreams.

Eventually she spoke to some of those who tended the temple, and they led her back, deeper into the temple and a cave in the back where it butted up against the mountain. An incredibly old woman sat there, her legs crossed. She seemed nearly too old to still be living, her hair pure white, the lines on her face deep, as if they were carved into her skin. She wore the orange of the temple keepers and ran a set of wooden beads through her hands, muttering. 

Emma knelt in front of her, then crossed her legs, trying to imitate how she sat. 

“You are the one with the magic tongue, are you not?”

“If you mean I cast a spell to speak your language, then yeah. I am.”

“Why cast this spell?”

The movement of the beads through the ancient woman's hands was somewhat hypnotic. 

“So I could read a book about a fish,” Emma said, smiling at little at her own idiocy.

The woman's voice echoed like parchment sliding over dry stone. “Must be a book of great importance.”

“It might be. There's a legend of a fish made of shadow, called Kun.”

“And you worry Kun may be coming for you?”

Did she? If Kun was miles across, he was too big to worry about fighting. Emma and Regina had some magic, but neither of them were Wonder Woman.

“If Kun came for me, I wouldn't survive,” Emma said.

“That is right.”

“But Kun won't come for me.”

The woman nodded, and Emma half expected dust to rise from her skin at the moment. 

“But something is coming.”

“Not for you.”

Her heart leapt into her throat. “For Regina?”

The beads rustled when she set them down in front of her. “For a boy. The shadow-thief wants a boy.”

“Why does he want the boy?”

“He gives the shadows he takes to the great shadow. Kun is one of its names, and it has many, and more servants. The thief wants a body so he can walk the earth before the great shadow comes to cover it all.”

“Can we hide?”

“As long as the boy has a shadow on the earth, the shadow-thief can follow him.”

Too bad. Hiding seemed like it had been working so far and it seemed better than an all out assault on a shadow creature. “So we can't hide. Can we beat it?”

That made the oracle smile and the lines in her face crept to rearrange themselves. “All things are possible.” She leaned forward and placed her beads in Emma's hand. "Find your centre. Know your own power." 

Her hands were like warm paper against Emma's and the beads carried the heat of her skin. They were smooth, unvarnished wooden beads worn even by passing through the hands of the ancient woman over and over. Emma wasn't sure how they'd help, but she accepted the gift and left, sensing her time was done. 

Out in the better lit part of the temple, Emma stood beneath a lantern and examined the beads closely. They were a warm brown, smelt of earth and incense as if they were made of fragrant wood and the only feature on the strand was a bead that held the knot, holding them together. Wrapping them around her wrist for safe keeping, she thanked the temple servants on her way out and retreated back to the narrow streets. 

She walked back towards the docks, fidgeting with the beads. They didn't seem to be magical. Maybe they were simply a gift, some kind of focusing tool. Regina or Gold would know more. Emma bought another stick full of spiced meat, now able to find out it was mutton. She ate as she walked, turning the tight corners through closed shops until she passed a well-lit door. Voice carried from within, loud and full of life. She knew a bar when she passed one, and headed back. She could get a night cap, listen to the conversation in the bar and then head home. Maybe it would still her racing thoughts. She wanted to be calm before she went back to Regina. Telling her about she was right about giant shadow fish that could only potentially be beaten because all things were possible, would be about as fun as trying to tell her in the language of Qin.

She bought some of the local liquor, which in a small, handless cup. It was clear, had little scent and stung on the way down. She ordered another and listened to the conversations around her. Some of the crew of the fishing vessels were talking about lost ships in low voices. Another one had gone missing just this week. A woman and her husband argued over the house they wanted to buy. 

Three women in the corner called her over and offered to teach her the tile game played with tiles of bone. It could be useful to know more games for the many months they had left at sea, so Emma sat, gambled a little on her own inability to win and slowly picked up the game. They were patient teachers, amused by her strange speech. Apparently she spoke as if she were older than the seer. She made excuses that she'd learned from an old book and they laughed and took her money graciously when they won.

She was three games in when Hook emerged from the back room, his coat over his arm. 

He said something to her in English, which was complete gibberish after her botching of the spell. Did English really sound so strange if you didn't speak it?

"I can only speak this, if you can understand me," Emma said, hopeful.

"That's new," Hook replied, eyes widening in surprise. "You're a quick study. Took me years to pick any of this up."

"Magic. I learned this and forgot English."

"How clever of you."

She shook her head. "Come on, I'll buy you a drink."

"Rum is safer than that stuff, dear," he said, but accepted the cup anyway. "Hiding from your parents, your son or your lover?"

Emma smirked and sipped her drink. "Maybe I'm hiding from Gold."

"The crocodile stays in his cabin, plotting. You wouldn't need to come here to hide from him." 

"No one on the _Jolly Roger_ can I understand me at the moment, so I thought I'd stay here and listen for awhile. Funny how bar talk transcends places. Those two-" she pointed at the arguing couple, "-could be anywhere. Boston, Storybrooke."

"Qin," Hook agreed, finding a smile. "You didn't fancy a dinner of pointing and guesswork with your parents?"

"Reconnaissance seemed more useful." She reached forward to pay for the drinks and he caught sight of beads on her wrist. 

"You've found an admirer."

"The oracle gave them to me. She was at least two hundred years old, so don't even think about trying to cause problems with my lover." The word felt foreign, but it was accurate and moderately better than girlfriend. Would she prefer to say wife? Would Regina want that? She'd much preferred being queen alone, she probably didn't want to get married again.

"Wouldn't dream of it. Do you know how they work?"

Emma had seen people praying on them but had no real idea how the prayers had worked. She didn't pray anyway, so they seemed like a useless gift. 

Hook lifted her wrist. "You say a short prayer one time for each bead all the way around. The idea is that you reach one hundred, so there are a few extra, in case you miss one."

Unwinding them from her wrist, Emma passed them through her hands. She didn't pray, but repetition was the soul of practice. If they were used to count, she could use them to count spells until she got them right. She finished her drink. "I've just thought of something I need to practice a hundred times, if you'll excuse me."

"I'll accompany you," he said, finishing his own drink. "My business here is concluded."

Emma thanked the women for teaching her the tile game and made herself a mental note to get a set. Months at sea was a lot for a kid, even when he had a whole new world's worth of history homework. Might as well learn a few games. 

She walked back to the ship with Hook. "What's the deal with magic here? If I throw a few fireballs up into the sky, will I get in trouble?"

"You might get an audience, but no trouble. There's plenty of magic here. If you don't throw them at anyone, I can't see you making a scene." 

"Got anything I could throw them at?" She asked. Hook thought about that for awhile, then ducked back into the bar. He returned with a large cloth sack that he handed to Emma.

She reached inside and pulled out a round, brown nut. "Chestnuts?"

"They're better roasted. Besides, if you can hit these by the end of a hundred, you'll be an excellent shot."

Her parents, Henry and Regina were all down at dinner when Emma and Hook returned. Gold must have been in his room, because the cabin window was lit. 

“Would you like me to throw them?” Hook offered, settling down on barrel by the rail with the sack by his feet. 

“If you don't mind.”

Emma held the beads in her left hand, putting the bead with a knot between her fingers. She dropped her right, just as Regina had so many times. Letting her fingers open until fire blossomed in her palm. Her fireballs were still bluer than Regina's, almost green mixed with the orange of the fire. She nodded to Hook and he threw the tiny nut far off the side.

She could barely see it against the dark sea and sky, but she could feel it soaring through the air, as if it left a trail. Emma had to aim with her heart, not her eyes. She missed, moved a bead in her left hand and Hook threw another. She missed again, the fireball sizzling out in the sea and the nut splashing far from the ship. 

After many beads and as many missed nuts, Emma started to think this was foolish. She was trying to hit something basically invisible, in the dark. It was a stupid plan.

She could do it. The nagging, stubborn insistence that she could hit it returned and she ticked off another bead and Hook threw. 

She didn't think about hitting a nut. She thought about Regina, Henry and her parents, their safety when arrows and shadow monsters came for them all.

That unlucky chestnut exploded in midair, hitting the sea as flaming shards.That was what she needed, that protective knot in the pit of her stomach. Angry was off for her, but she could be the saviour. 

She hit, hit and hit again, destroying all the nuts Hook threw once she'd made the connection. Then she hit one and another fell to the sea. He'd thrown two.

Emma glared at him but nodded, and two flew from his hand. She hit one easily than reached out for the other, making the fireball arc into a whip that curved for the other nut. She missed that one, but she was close.

The next pair exploded. Hook threw another pair, then a trio and Emma stretched herself. She kept the beads in her hand, methodically moving from one to the next. Protect her family. Keep them safe. Those were her mantras and as silly as she felt clutching her new gift, the beads helped her focus.

She hit four in midair, destroyed the four Hook threw straight up and even took down one he dropped over the side (though her fireball got so close to the ship she had to call up a wave for safety). 

Emma shut her eyes, listened for the sound of the nut leaving Hook's hand and threw fire at it blind. She hit. He threw a pair and she hit both. Maybe it was her messed up brain, but she'd cracked this, so to speak. 

Opening her eyes again, she climbed up on the rail and stood there, facing him.

“Throw them at me.”

“If you burn my ship, Miss Swan--”

Concentrating, she lifted a globe of water and held it over her head for safety. “If I lose my concentration, this will come down.”

“Excellent.” Hook smirked at her, reached into the bag, then threw. 

She had less time to react and the first nut stung her arm. Emma moved a bead in her left hand and forced herself to find focus. Picturing Regina behind her, Emma waiting for him to throw again.

Fire arced from her hand and roast that nut in midair. It fell smoking to the deck. Her globe of water trembled but held.

“Magic's easier here than it was in Storybrooke.”

“Perhaps because this is your home.”

She hadn't thought of that. Did she really belong here? She'd been in this world all of moments as a baby and she'd hated the danger and the lack of sanitation when she'd been here with Snow. Her powers knew this world, even if she didn't. She'd been able to save Regina, and she might not have done that back home. That was worth being here. 

“Two,” she asked.

Hook threw two and her fire roasted them both. He tried three, then four, but she could reach out and stop all of them. Emma closed her eyes and let him keep throwing. She could feel them coming, feel the disruption in the air, and she could trust her magic to stop them. It wasn’t even hard.

Something much heavier than a nut whistled through the air towards her and she burned that too, letting it fall. Emma opened her eyes and stared down at a dagger, lying smoking on the deck.

“Impressive.”

Emma sent the globe of water back to the sea and climbed down from the railing. “You threw a dagger at me?”

“Nuts seemed to easy.”

She brought the fire to her hand, it was much more blue now, almost teal. Perhaps that was how her fire worked. It was still hot, maybe the colour didn’t matter. She thought of multiple missiles coming towards her and the ball gained reaching tentacles, ready to pounce. 

Carefully picking up the dagger, she handed it back to Hook. It seemed to be undamaged.

She glanced down at the beads in her hand. She had a few more tries left before she was done. 

“What else do you have?”

* * *

Regina made an attempt to eat her stew. It smelt fine, David had done a good job with it. It was well cooked, warm and the rosemary had helped but nothing tasted right. She ate the carrots, then most of the pieces of potato. She forced herself to eat the lamb for protein. David and Snow had finished all of theirs. Some stew still sat in the pot, waiting for Hook and Emma, if they wanted any. 

Snow eventually took her bowl with an apologetic look and handed her one of the tasteless pieces of hard bread that the _Jolly Roger_ always seemed to have in abundance. 

“I’d offer you coffee, but we only have tea.”

She’d had more tea on this ship than she ever drank at home, but there was something pleasant about the warmth and the scent, even if it wasn’t coffee. 

“Tea is fine,” Regina said, watching Snow collect the bowls to wash them. 

“Maybe when we’re further south we’ll find coffee,” David said, rubbing Snow’s back. “Though I can’t recall having much of it in our land.”

“We’ll have to establish trade,” Snow said. “Coffee is a necessity. We have magic, so I won’t miss electricity, but coffee I’m used to.”

“We’ll pass the coffee lands, won’t we?”

“Nearly all of them,” Regina answered, even though the question wasn’t for her. “We ought to be able to find some way to bring it back to the Enchanted Forest. Perhaps the dwarves and our not-so-giant giant would like to grow coffee instead.”

“It has its own kind of magic,” David mused, unbothered by her decision to join the conversation. 

Dinner had been quiet. Snow and David had said little but seemed comfortable with the silence. Regina was in her own world but it had been odd not to feel out of place with the two of them. Neither of them seemed to want her gone, even though Emma and Henry weren’t there to buffer between them. They’d made some polite conversation, but mostly left Regina to her thoughts.

Snow set tea in front of her. Tiny flower petals drifted over the surface and it smelt faintly of apples. Curious, Regina picked it up for a deeper sniff.

“You found apple tea.”

“Took some doing.”

“You found apple tea, for me. You hate apples.”

Snow tried to look innocent. “I don’t hate all apples. I still like apple pie.”

“But you found this for me, specifically.”

“I had to get Hook’s help, but yes, I did.”

Regina stared at Snow’s tentative smile as it grew brighter on her face and David’s gentle expression of support. She couldn’t believe either of them and stumbled for words. 

“Thank you,” she managed, but anything else failed her. She merely stared at the tea, overwhelmed with the gesture. 

Gold rescued her, returning to the galley with his empty bowl. “Thank you for the dinner, but my dears, I suggest you wait on the dishes, you may be interested in what your daughter is currently doing up on deck.” 

They followed him. Regina regretted leaving her tea behind on the table when she hit the cool night air, but what she saw distracted her for any other thoughts.

Emma held a blue ball of light in her hand and rays of it reached out around her, as if protecting her. She stood in the bow, with little of the ship behind her and Hook advanced with a dagger in his hook and his sword in his good hand.

He came at Emma, whipping the dagger viciously at her head, and the light blocked it. Blue fire kissed the dagger from the air and dropped it to the deck. He raised his sword and the rays of light reached as if they had their own will for the blade. The light held it, even though Hook forced it down. Emma started to deflect it, forcing it aside, Hook tried to pull back but she wrenched the sword from his grip and it fell to the deck, smoking in the cool air. The light faded.

Emma’s words were still in the language of Qin and whatever she said to Hook made him smile. She wrapped something around her wrist and returned his grin before she noticed her audience. 

Her eyes fell on her parents and her expression changed from pride to apology. She spoke to the them, her words laced with apology even though they made little sense.

Regina slipped back down to the galley, found a scrap of parchment and wrote three words in English on it. She returned to the deck and handed it to Emma. 

“Concentrate,” she said, even though Emma would not understand. “Let it wash through you.”

Emma held the scrap, looked directly into Regina’s eyes, then shut her own.

“I was just practicing,” she said, her words oddly accented, as if she’d learned English in a far off land. She stretched her lips and smiled. “Sorry. I didn’t want to make you upset. I was just trying to see what I could do and I think I got ahead of myself.”

“You had Hook attack you with his sword,” Snow began.

“And you fended him off,” David finished. “Emma, that’s incredible.”

“I finally figured it out,” Emma said, beaming at them now that she trusted they weren’t angry. “I found the right emotion and with practice just made it make sense.”

“You’re not tired?” Regina asked, wondering if Emma’s practice had left her drained.

“Sort of, but not in a bad way. Like I’ve been running, not like I’ve been up all night.” She took a step closer to Regina. “Feeling better?”

“I had some time to think, and a nap.”

Emma smirked, lifting the piece of parchment and reading it, now that she understood it. The words sank in and her face lit with joy. Even in front of her parents, Mr. Gold and Hook, she wrapped Regina tight in her arms and held her close.

“I knew it,” she whispered, losing all sense of composure. “I knew it had to be true.”

Regina didn’t try to pull away, allowing herself to be held tight. “I didn’t- I wasn’t- but it’s all right.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes, Emma. I think it could be great.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's mostly character fluff with a hint of plot. I just love everyone getting along and getting to play with magic. Emma and Regina do magic together next chapter. Thanks for following along.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything I was supposed to do today got rained out, so new chapter sooner than I planned. Regina and Emma doing magic together moved into the next chapter because this one got too long, but there's some smut, so hopefully that'll make up for it. 
> 
> I aged Ariel down a little from her film because it worked much better to have her around Henry's age. She's around twelve.
> 
> Thanks again for reading (and the kudos and comments!). This is my first jump into this fandom and pairing and I feel so welcome.

Emma hugged her parents, laughing and telling them how she finally knew what people were saying. “That man who was yelling all afternoon? He sharpens knives and swords. He yells so you’ll know he’s coming and you can bring your blades.”

“We should have brought all of ours ashore,” David said, shaking his head. “It’s taken me weeks to make any of the ones Hook’s crew left serviceable.”

“I know what he looks like now. I’m pretty sure I can cast the translation spell so I keep English this time.”

Snow patted her shoulder. “Maybe we should let Regina cast it.”

“I didn’t mess it up that badly. Yes, I couldn’t talk to any of you, but I got some intel and found out the meat on the stick isn’t rat or chimera. It’s sheep.” 

“I have faith Emma will cast the translation spell accurately from now on,” Regina said, still holding Emma’s hand. Being able to use magic had made her so excited, so vibrant, and she was so beautiful. 

Emma beamed, radiating pride. “See? Regina thinks I can do it. What other kind of endorsement do you need?”

“Even I will admit that ball of light spell was pretty handy,” Gold said. “You’ve come a long way very quickly, dearie.” 

“I have a good teacher,” Emma said, staring at Regina with unbridled devotion. It was heady, seeing that kind of affection directed at her. She’d seen it before, always directed at others, never her. 

“Funny, to see the pupil become the teacher, isn’t it?” Gold said. He stared at them both for moment, then nodded his head and returned to his cabin, seemingly content with his own company.

David and Snow looked at each other, wrapping their arms around each other. Once that would have burned in her chest, reminding her what she’d lost in Daniel, but with Emma’s eyes on her there was very little sting. 

“We’ll say goodnight then,” David said. “It’s your turn to make breakfast in the morning.”

“Only if you’re up for it, Regina,” Snow added, concern in her face. It wasn’t the usual concern that Regina was lying, or about to betray them, this was a softer concern. Was that pity or empathy? Why could Regina never tell the difference and why did both sting? 

“Better you than me,” Emma said, slipping her arm around Regina’s waist. “I might mistranslate the directions for porridge and make fish stew.”

Forcing down the urge to slip out of Emma’s arm, at least in front of her parents, Regina admitted to herself that she liked being held and the looks on the Charming's faces. “I’ll make breakfast,” she said. I’ve been meaning to see if the galley can be convinced to make pancakes.”

“I found apples,” Emma said, pointing down at the deck. “They’re in the galley. They’re not the ones from home, they’re bigger, like, huge, but they should work.” She mimed an apple too big for her hand. 

Regina looked at her, raising her eyebrows in surprise. “You think I can make apple pancakes in the galley of a pirate ship?”

“We’ll eat anything,” Snow promised, smoothing things. “Emma’s made us poptarts before and I’m not even sure they count as food.”

Incensed, Emma shook her head. “I gave you smores poptarts, those are the best kind.”

“I dunked mine in my coffee,” David said with a shrug. “It was all right.” 

“I’ll expect better treatment of my pancakes,” Regina said, half-heartedly glaring at him. 

Snow and David nodded politely, actually smiling at her, promising to take good care of anything they were served. They kissed Emma goodnight, both of them pressing their lips to her forehead. They didn’t even make her let go of Regina and then Snow looked at her so long that Regina feared she might be in for the same treatment. 

Instead, she squeezed Regina’s hand. “If breakfast isn’t working out, come find me, okay? I’ll be happy to help.” 

“Of course,” Regina replied, without putting thought into the words. What was Snow trying to protect her from? Just because she knew she was pregnant didn’t mean she’d immediately wake with all the symptoms. Even so, it was almost nice that Snow cared so much. 

The Charmings went below, waving one last time at their daughter. Hook checked the anchor, and the lines holding the sails, and headed for the stern, rum in hand. 

Standing in the cloudy darkness on the deck, Regina turned to Emma, taking the hand that had been on her back and holding it in hers. “Henry’s staying over in the mermaid city tonight.” 

“And my parents just went to bed with that look I try not to see.”

Regina stared down at their hands. “They’re cute.”

“Really?” Emma’s tone dropped, dumbfounded. 

“Perhaps,” Regina took a deep breath and met Emma’s curious eyes. “There’s a sweetness in the way they look at each other. It once was the most horrible thing in my life; now it’s not.”

“So you’re okay just letting it be a terribly embarrassing part of mine instead?”

“Many people would be pleased to have their parents be so in love.” 

Shutting her eyes, Regina forced down her hatred of Snow. The emotion went down easier than it once had, almost as if it was weakening. She hadn’t opened her eyes when Emma kissed her. Her lips pressed hot against Regina’s forehead, then the bridge of her nose, one of her closed eyes and finally her mouth. Regina kissed her back, wrapping her hands around the back of Emma’s head, burying them in her hair. She let the kiss come to fruition, Emma’s tongue against hers, before teleporting them below deck into their room. 

“Sneaky,” Emma whispered, nibbling her ear. 

“It’s much more convenient than the ladder.” 

“It was lavender,” Emma said, unwrapping her blue outer robe. She still missed her own clothes, but the clothes of Qin suited her slender frame, giving her a sort of elegance in the long lines. She shook it off her shoulders, reaching for the sash that held Regina’s on. 

“What was?” 

“The smoke,” Emma teased. “I swear it gets lighter every time.”

Regina neatly removed her robe, letting it fall to the bed. “I’m sure it’s your fault.”

“My fault?” Emma kissed down her neck, nuzzling the line of her collarbone through Regina’s thin tunic. 

Regina tugged her tunic up, exposing her stomach. “Your baby, your fault.” 

Emma dropped her lips to just above the waist of Regina’s skirt, kissing her way up to the cloth wrapped around her breasts. She couldn’t have noticed any difference in Regina’s stomach, as she herself hadn’t even noticed anything there. However, her breasts were sore and the bra she’d been wearing when they left Storybrooke bit in where it hadn’t before, so she’d stopped wearing it. Even Emma’s gentle touch on her breasts made her gasp. Very delicately, Emma unwrapped the end of the cloth, and slowly wound her hands around until it was loose and fell away. 

Her tongue worked its way up Regina’s ribs to the underside of her breast. Regina ran her hands through Emma’s hair, lying back on the bed. Emma was taking her time, kissing and nuzzling out little gasps that made her smile, so pleased with herself. Emma pushed Regina’s skirt up, turning her attention to her inner thighs with a tongue that was so much softer than silk. She traced little patterns with her fingers, exploring as if she were making maps of Regina’s skin. 

Regina let her hands work their way down Emma’s chest. Her nipples were easy to tease; Emma wore nothing beneath her tunic. Easing her closer, Regina tugged on her clothes.

“You’re overdressed.”

“Sorry.” Emma sat up and ripped her tunic off, tossing it to the floor. She undid the ties on her pants, letting them fall as well. Naked, she straddled Regina. “Better?” 

Wriggling so the pillow was comfortable beneath her head, Regina smiled. “I like this view more.”

Emma tossed her hair back, but still it fell forward, hanging in strands of gold against her pale breasts. Her expression turned thoughtful. “Sometimes I still can’t believe you think I’m pretty.”

Tracing her hands down Emma’s slender waist and along her hips, Regina rocked up against her. “Pretty is a weak adjective for you, Miss Swan.” 

“I look at you, and you’re so beautiful, even here, without your perfect wardrobe-“ Emma paused and traced Regina’s lips with her finger, “And your lipstick.”

She laughed deep in her throat. “And I thought I was the only one who missed my clothes.”

Emma slid Regina’s skirt loose, unwrapping her hips slowly, taking her time so the fabric rustled and danced across her skin. “These do have certain advantages.” Running her thumbs over Regina’s hips, she leaned down to kiss her. “I like being able to strip you naked without buttons and zippers.”

Regina stroked Emma’s cheek. “You just like me naked.”

“I like you clothed too. When you’re dressed I get to take them off.” 

Trailing her hand down Emma’s chest, then her stomach, Regina slipped it between Emma’s legs. Her breathy gasp the moment she was touched made Regina shiver with want. Emma dropped herself against Regina again, running her hands over Regina’s arms as she bent them back to the bed. 

She kissed Regina’s pinned arms. “Are you up for this?” 

“You get me naked, kiss me the way you do, then ask if I’m all right?” Regina pouted, rolling her hips against Emma’s to distract her. “Watching you do magic does something indecent to my self control, if you must know.” 

“Me doing magic is a turn on?” Emma slipped off her and lay coyly at Regina’s side, her hand on Regina’s breast. “Me?”

Regina stared up at the ceiling instead of looking at Emma’s pleading eyes. “Yes. I’ve seen power before, but with you... It’s the way you surrender to it completely, the way it’s inside of you, not because you learned it, but because it’s you, that’s so beautiful.” 

Emma kissed her shoulder, then moved Regina’s hair aside to nibble her neck. “It scares me a little, having it right there, but I like what I can do. I like the idea of being able to keep people safe, being able to defend myself.”

“Still the sheriff at heart.” Regina rolled to face her, resting her hand on Emma’s heart. “You don’t have to be afraid of it. Your magic comes from within you. It hasn’t been twisted or shaped by anyone else.”

Emma’s eyes held such sorrow, looking up at her. She reached for Regina’s fingers and wound them in her own. “You’re not twisted.” 

Then, Emma must have run out of words, because she kissed her again and again. Her hands dipped lower, resting on Regina’s stomach a moment longer than they had before, then continuing down. She had been wet since Emma kissed her on the deck and Emma’s darting fingers surprised her. Regina arched towards her, then reached between Emma’s legs for payback. She moved slowly, knowing how much that drove Emma insane because she liked it fast.

There was no hurry tonight. The clouds burst above them, rumbling thunder and pouring rain down as if the sea would empty without being refilled. The air was still warm, but it sounded like a true Maine storm overhead and for a moment, she was almost back in her elegant bed. Except she’d never had Emma there. She’d needed to be in another realm, lying with her on hemp and wool, with pitch and planking between them and the elements. She spared half a thought on redecorating their room, especially if they’ll be there for months yet. Then Emma’s fingers were inside of her, reaching up, curling, and she had no defence.

Perhaps that’s part of what she loved, Emma cut through her carefully laid barriers, made her laugh and saw her, the real her: not her shadows and lies, but her weakness. Maybe that terror was part of what made Emma’s touch so exquisite. She was truly naked for her, bare to the trembling core, and Emma wasn’t afraid. She didn’t want to control her, didn’t want her to change. Did the vulnerability draw her? Pull the saviour in like a cat and a wounded bird?

Her thumb circled Emma’s clit, too light, too teasing and Emma retaliated by sucking her nipple until Regina broke, gasping. 

“Are you going to make me tell you what to do?” Emma’s voice was thick, almost full of the rasp akin to evil, but it was all desire and this wanting could not be made of shadow. 

Bringing her thumb down hard, adding a third finger inside of Emma, Regina finally understood one of the differences between Emma and her own anatomy. Why three fingers made Emma growl and twist. How when she was properly aroused, four made her bite back cries. Henry had been through here, stretching and moulding Emma’s body as he made his way into the world. 

There were marks on her stomach, tiny silver lines that had faded in the decade since Henry grew within Emma, but their history was on her body. Regina tried to picture Emma pregnant, the glow of youth mixed with the brightness of new life, and it was a crime Emma had been locked away when she was so beautiful. 

Emma nibbled her lip, drawing her back to the moment just in time to see orgasm take her lover. It darkened Emma's eyes, relaxed her face, and brought a completeness to her as she collapsed against her. Regina would have happily held her, foregone her own release because she was tired and what she wanted from Emma she had. The saviour did not give up that easily. Her fingers were still only moments before they moved within Regina, circling, taunting, leaving her empty to pay their full attention to her clit. She clung to Emma, gasping for breath, and her own release came like a flood.

At first she did not feel the tears; the sweat on her skin and the tingling that orgasm left behind hid most sensation. Regina discovered them when Emma kissed them away. She hated to cry; an old, stubborn part of herself had always labelled it weakness, but there was no such thing with Emma. The saviour called love a strength and accepted the messy baggage that trailed with it.

Then she cried with Emma lying over her as if protecting her from the world, while the rain drummed hard on the deck. Stroking her hair and telling her how much she loved her, Emma held her, being the constant in the storm. 

Regina started to apologise and Emma hushed her with kisses. 

“Everyone cries sometime. Especially the tough ones.” 

Emma pulled the blanket up and held her close, her legs bent next to Regina’s, because Emma’s always the outside. 

“I’m not tough.”

“You’re one of the toughest people I know,” Emma promised and in her voice its a compliment, not a curse. “Being tough doesn’t mean you don’t cry.” She nuzzled the back of Regina’s neck, resting her hands just beneath Regina’s breasts. “What is it?”

Regina shut her eyes, holding Emma’s hands tight against her. “I want to decorate.”

“Oh?” 

“We can put something on the walls, get different blankets, find sheets--“

Emma laughed. “I have no opposition to decorating. I doubt Hook cares what we do to first mate’s room. You choose what you like tomorrow. I have no real opinions about what to put with what and you’re to be good at it. Turn our corner of the ship into a decorator’s dream.” She lifted her head, kissing Regina’s shoulder this time. “Here I was expecting something difficult.”

Regina confessed. “I was thinking about you.”

“Me?”

“I wish, I mean, I almost wish I could have seen you when you were pregnant. You must have been so beautiful.”

Emma tried to recall, and her fingers wandered Regina’s stomach as she thought. “I was pale as a porcelain doll, kind of skinny. I had nice hair.” 

“You have lovely hair.”

“It was thicker, had more wave. I liked that. Not that anyone really saw it.” Emma nuzzled Regina’s head, kissing her through her hair. “Are you going to grow yours out?”

“Because I have no stylist here?” 

Emma’s hands finally settle, low, just below Regina’s navel and she realised they were above the baby. She covered them with her own, needing to hold her there. 

“Because everyone has their hair long. Even the men.”

“Part of that is Qin culture, but even in our land, many of the men wear their hair long. Long hair takes less work to maintain because cutting it neatly here is difficult.”

“I bet yours is beautiful.” 

“We’ll see. Perhaps some of Storybrooke will carry over and short hair will be in. Maybe someone will reinvent jeans for you.” 

Emma toyed with her fingers. “I’ll ask a tailor. I’ll end up being the first queen of the Enchanted Forest to wear jeans. They’ll call me the Denim Queen.”

Regina had to laugh at that ridiculous idea and she moved, then Emma’s hands shifted and she missed them. She rolled to her back and Emma draped a leg over hers. “I doubt it, but if you want to wear trousers and a doublet, I don’t think anyone will stop you.”

“Do the men wear tights?”

“Tights?” Regina frowned. “Not as you know them, but on occasion, yes, something similar.”

“Do I have to wear corsets?”

“You can wear what you like.” 

Emma’s hand fidgeted again and Regina brought it back to her stomach and held it there. Emma’s smile crept into Regina’s vision and she rolled her eyes. She wasn’t sentimental. She liked Emma to be close to the baby, who wasn’t a baby, Regina had to remind herself. He, she, was barely more than a ball of cells and a flicker of life, but their life energy, both of theirs, had gone into those cells. 

“You’ll need a symbol, something for your banners, and you’ll have to appear courtly at some functions.”

“I’m going to end up with a white swan aren’t I?”

“It would be appropriate, honouring your mother with the colour and taking the animal that has been part of you.” 

“I want it on blue,” Emma said with surprising certainty. “Blue seems to be part of me too.”

“Yes, your majesty.”

Emma winced, burying her head in Regina’s chest. “No, no, none of that.”

For an odd moment, Regina wanted to save her from a courtly life. “You’ll have to hear it. Our land is not a democracy and I doubt anyone would wish to see it reformed as such. Your people expect that you will be queen, and Henry will have to follow you. There are other kingdoms, other kings and queens, but your parents were conquerors, you will be the highest of queens.”

“Conquerors,” Emma sighed. “I’m the child of conquerors.”

“They defeated King George, defeated me, absorbed the lands of Midas; my curse left most of the other kingdoms in ruins...you’ll have your hands full.” 

“I’ve always hated politics.”

“Welcome to the part that’s never in the book. Happily ever after requires fair taxes, well thought out laws and the will to enforce both. I hope you’re ready with that sense of justice of yours.” 

Emma looked up at her, careful not to put any of her weight on Regina. “But you’ll be there.”

“I am going to love to see how you intend to convince Rumplestiltskin, the fairies, the dwarves and a a kingdom that hates me, to accept me near the castle, let alone in your bedroom, but yes, Emma, I’ll be there. If you want--”

Emma put a finger on her lips. “There’s never an ‘if’. I will always want you.”

The innuendo mixed with Emma’s parent’s motto was too much and Regina giggled. She couldn’t even laugh, because it was too high in her throat, too foolish of her to be amused, and she giggled until Emma laughed with her (or at her). They lay entwined together until she broke the moment, yawning. Emma held her close and even the shadows in her past had no teeth.

* * *

Henry slept in Ariel’s room, with her unmarried sisters all around, in a hammock of kelp woven with pearls and gold. Merfolk, it seemed did not worry about boys and girls being in the same room the way humans did. He kind of liked that. Yes, Triton was king and he was kind of strict, but Ariel had so much freedom; so many friends. She had Flounder, and she could talk to all the fish, rays, dolphins, and even sharks. Ariel lived a magical life, but it was a different magic. Magic wasn't curses in Atlantica. Magic was for performing fancy concerts, making the tides raise and fall, and singing. There was so much singing. He never sang. Sure, at school, when he had to do one of those pageants that all the parents came too, but never on his own.

So Ariel taught him. She showed him how to breathe, how the water filled his chest with power and how he could share that with everyone who heard him. It was exhausting and he felt silly, but there was nothing else to worry about. The guards had spears, but Ariel never needed one. Triton negotiated with the sharks, kept peace with the squid and the other deep creatures who hungered for those who lived in the light. He liked learning the bow because he felt heroic, but Snow had said he'd need to learn to aim for the eyes of an ogre, so he could kill it. 

That would be his life. Riding around in armour, killing ogres, protecting his people. Hoping no one else rose with magic to threaten his kingdom, and that the Dark One took on no new apprentices. He'd have to fight, probably kill, and if his mother ruled with magic, he'd have to learn too. Emma having magic had seemed kind of cool at first, but he'd seen what magic did. Even if Emma's magic was special, what would it do to her? Would she kill ogres with fireballs like his mom? Could she turn trees into grasping traps? 

He'd talked to Ariel about it, telling her how much he feared magic because of what it did to people he loved. Ariel knew stories, about merfolk who'd used forbidden magic and lost their tails as punishment. Ursula, her aunt who had given him the amulet, had used magic, and Triton had taken her tail. That was why she had tentacles now, she'd become part octopus to survive. She swore she didn't use magic any more, that she wanted him to have the amulet because she wanted him to be happy. She'd been so regretful in a way his mom never was, so he believed her. 

"Magic's price is that it takes you until you're not you anymore. Look at me, I'm a shadow of my former self," Ursula had said, sighing. "Better to stay away. Let magic have no part of your life."

That was what really scared him, more than his mom's magic, or Mr. Gold's. Henry feared magic might have a place inside of him, that one day he'd have to face the temptation to use it and he'd fail, because his mother had failed. She'd grown up with a mom who used magic and as soon as she had the chance, she'd become like Cora. What if he became like her? Learned a few spells, then felt the power of it and turned into an evil king? No one would be around to stop him. His moms would be gone Snow, Charming, everyone he knew and trusted would one day be gone and he'd be alone. Being alone had turned his mom evil. What would it do to him?

"You're lucky you don't have to be queen," he told Ariel as she brought him to see the reef. "Attina will be and you can do what you want."

"Attina says that she'd like to change the way we think about humans. That we're too isolated. She told me when she's queen, maybe we'll even have envoys to human kingdoms. Maybe I could be the envoy to yours. That way we'd still be friends."

Henry grinned at her and swam to keep up. "That would be cool. We could still swim together if I had the amulet."

"Of course you will," Ariel said, smiling back. "Ursula said it's yours to keep. Just don't even take it off."

Henry nodded. He'd been listening to that part carefully. In exchange for his freedom, when he took off the amulet, he'd retain whatever form he was in as his true form. Take it off in water, he'd live the rest of his life as merfolk, take it off on land, and he'd be human. He didn't intend to ever take it off so he hadn't worried about it much. 

They played with the reef fish, chasing the eels, hiding from lobsters under the coral. Lobsters were so funny, always making sill jokes about shells and claws. He really liked them. In fact, Henry liked everything about the sea. It was better than caring for his horse, better than sword fighting, even better than shooting arrows. Ariel's people weren't just merfolk, but the fish, the eels, even the funny sea slugs that spoke so slowly when they bothered to speak at all. Her life was so beautiful, so peaceful. There were no curses, no secret identities and the only thing her father needed to be redeemed for was setting bedtime a little too early, and even that he'd gotten better about. 

He didn't even hate humans, Henry thought, because he sometimes said nice things about Henry, and Henry was human. Maybe it was true. Someday, when Attina was queen, the merfolk would be less of a mystery and more involved. They could help many people, warn them when storms were coming, help them find safe paths through the reefs, of course, in the negotiations humans would probably have to stop eating fish, but he didn’t really miss that anymore. 

After they'd been swimming awhile, they found a whale shark, a huge creature bigger than a semi-truck that swam high and fast through the water. It was friendly, just on a journey, eating as he went. He let Ariel and Henry hold on to his dorsal fin and with him they flew through the water as if they were in hyperspace. It was amazing. They followed that whale shark, Leo, for most of the morning, then met his friends: the high flying manta rays who could leap from the water. 

They were training for their competition, a kind of ray olympics where they’d compete to see who could fly the furthest and soar the highest over the waves. Just watching them was incredible. They flew so high and crashed with huge splashes that echoed beneath the sea like thunderclaps. 

It was almost midday when Henry remembered he was supposed to call his mom with the magic shell (a good kind of magic because it was kind of like a cell phone). Embarrassed and hoping he wasn’t in trouble, he floated in the water for awhile and took the shell out of the bag Ariel had given him. He concentrated and it glowed, which meant it was glowing on the ship and soon his mom would answer.

Except, she didn’t. Snow did. 

“Henry? Hello Henry, did you have a good morning?” Snow was cheerful, but she wasn’t his mom. Where was she?

“I’m fine. Look, I’m sorry I called late, we met a whale shark and then some mantas and I guess we just got distracted. Where’s my mom?”

“She’s up on deck, Henry, hang on. I’ll go up and find her. What else did you do?” Something was odd in her voice. Why didn’t his mom have the shell with her? He said he’d call and she never forgot him. If anything, she was too clingy.

“We played hide and seek with the eels, who are really good at it because they can see in the dark. Then we hung out with the lobsters, who think everything is a joke about claws and usually find a way to make it one. They’re really funny and kind of goofy. Then there was this whale shark, his name is Leo, was just cruising around looking for food. He gave us a ride and he was so fast. It’s like being in a super-sonic submarine or something. 

“And then we found the rays and they’re mantas so they’re huge. They’re having a competition soon so they were all training and they launch themselves from the water and just hang in the air, like they’re kites or something, it’s pretty incredible.”

He heard the familiar echoing sounds of the ship, then the wind on the deck and the rattling of the ropes and spars. 

“Is the weather nice there?” Snow asked. “It’s still raining hard here.” 

That must be the muffled noise in the background. 

“It’s very sunny here.” He wasn’t entirely sure where here was, Ariel said they were in the open sea, where humans rarely came, and he liked the peace here. “I think we’re far out at sea, so there’s no rain.”

He heard Emma in the background, whispering. Then something wet, not a rain sound, more like something falling, splashing. Someone gasped, like they were in pain or they couldn’t breath right. It wasn’t Emma. He wasn’t really sure what it was until he heard Emma’s voice. 

“She’s pretty sick, can you ask him to call back?”

Who was sick? His mom? Why was she sick? Henry couldn’t shake the feeling that magic had somehow done this to her. That it was magic making his mom sick. The shell must have been closer to Regina because he finally understood what the sounds had been.

She had a moment, but she threw up again. Emma whispered something, reminding her to breathe, telling her she was okay. Then he heard a humming. Magic. Someone was using magic.

“Henry, your mom’s busy right now. Can she call you back in a little while?”

“Busy doing what?” Henry asked. His grandmother was terrible at lying, worse than Emma. If she lied to him, he’d know. 

“Tell him food poisoning.” He heard Emma whisper, then the humming of more magic and if his mom was throwing up, she probably wasn’t the one casting. It had to be Emma. Could she heal food poisoning? Why was she using magic? Didn’t they leave anything alone anymore?

“Your mom’s not feeling well,” Snow said. “We think she has food poisoning.”

His mom was always worried about food poisoning but that’s why she was careful. She always washed her hands, chose what she ate carefully and never ate any of the junk he and Emma did. It was a lie. It was Emma’s lie, but, it was still a lie. 

Why were they lying to him? He heard more magic, stronger this time, and then he heard his mom. 

Regina's voice was weak, deep and cracked, like it her to hurt to talk. “I’m all right Henry. I just let Emma talk me into something I shouldn’t have.”

“It’s my fault, kid. But she’ll be okay. I promise. I know exactly how to take care of her.” Emma’s voice was much clearer, even confident and she wasn’t lying. Not the way she was when she talked about food poisoning. Something weird was going on. 

“I’m fine,” his mom said again, but she wasn’t. Magic hummed loud in the background and he wondered if Emma was using it on her, helping her pretend to be okay. That was something they’d do. 

“Henry, the weather’s awful here, we’re not doing anything. Why don’t you stay with Ariel for awhile longer, if that’s okay. It sounds a lot more fun there.” 

“You don’t want me to come back?”

“Of course we do,” Emma said. “Just, don’t hurry back, you know? Your mom’s sick, but I’m with her and I’ll make sure she’s taken care of. Trust me.”

And he would have, he did, really, except for the magic he still heard in the background. Someone was using a lot of magic. 

“I think you should stay with Ariel,” his mom said, her voice a little stronger. “It’s fun there, isn’t it? I’m fine, Henry, really. Emma’s a much better nurse than you’d think.”

“Okay,” he tried to make himself sound cheerful. “I’ll stay here. I’ll call tonight, see if you’re feeling better?”

“I’m sure I’ll be,” his mom promised, which he knew was a lie from her voice almost immediately. She wasn’t sure.

“Have fun. Say hi to Ariel for us, talk to you tonight.”

“Good bye, Henry.” 

Emma was trying to sound happy when she wasn’t, and whenever the humming faded at all his mom sounded worse. 

“Bye,” he said, then went silent. The shell didn’t stop glowing because the connection was still there, but it dimmed. Maybe they’d just forget and put it on the deck, or Snow would keep holding it.

He listened hard, his ear to the shell. 

“You can stop, Emma,” his mom said, all the forced cheerfulness out of her voice. The humming faded, then stopped and he was pretty sure his mom threw up again. He’d been sick enough times to know the sound, though it was a little weird she was doing over the side of a pirate ship, not into a toilet. 

“I’m sorry,” Emma said, her voice muffled. “I’m so sorry.”

“It is your fault,” his mom said, with something strange behind her words. She seemed almost happy, but a different kind of happy than she’d pretended to be when she thought he was listening. “It’s not that bad.”

“That’s the fourth time,” Emma said. “You don’t even have any cookies left to toss over the side.”

Clothing rustled, wet in the rain. His mom didn’t think that was funny, but Snow laughed softly. Why was Snow laughing? That was mean.

“Do you want to try that tea? The midwife in the town said it would help.”

“I can keep trying to magic it away too,” Emma said. “You don’t have to suffer.”

“You can’t magic me for weeks,” his mom said. He heard Regina swallow, hard, but she didn’t throw up again. “I’ll live. I’ll drink the tea.”

Snow left and she took the shell so he couldn’t hear his moms anymore, but Snow still hadn’t shut it all the way down, maybe she didn’t understand it, or thought it always glowed. He heard the sound of her hands on wood, then the creaking of below deck, then something mixing.

What kind of tea was she making? Was it magic tea? What was a midwife? How was his mom going to be sick for weeks and why was everyone okay with that?

Someone came in, he heard more footsteps. 

“How’s she doing?” That voice was David’s. 

“Oh, Charming, she’s really sick,” Snow said, all pretence gone. “I mean, I was sick, but I’d throw up and be done. She’s much worse.”

“It’s midday, and she was fine at breakfast.”

Snow’s voice was soft, almost sad. “Just because they call it morning sickness doesn’t mean its in the morning. Some women have it later in the day, some women have it all day. Sometimes there are triggers. Remember how I couldn’t stand the perfume the nobles wore to court?”

David laughed. Why was that a happy memory for him if Snow had been sick? What was morning sickness? 

“We had to ban perfume from court for months. Some of the nobility refused to even come pay their respects,” David said. “You know, Mr. Gold was burning some very strange herbs in his room. He must not have known that the smell would have such an effect on Regina.”

“I thought being on deck would help her. The air’s always so clean when it rains.” Snow sighed. “We’ll have to ask him to put up some kind of barrier when he works on his spells. Regina’s going to be sensitive for many weeks still.”

“We can’t just ban Gold’s stinky experiments?” David joked.

“No, he’s trying to find out what’s happening at home, and that’s important to all of us, especially him. We’ll just need to keep Regina away. I’m going to bring her some tea. Ginger helped me and the midwife in town recommended cardamon, so I put that in there too. I just wish we could do more to help her.”

“Didn’t you tell me it was something you lived through, and because of what it meant, you didn’t mind being sick?”

“But that was me.”

“Regina’s tough.”

“I still want to help. I don’t like anyone to suffer.”

The shell darkened, the glow finally stopped. His mother was suffering? And what did they mean Snow had been sick too? Was it a disease from Fairytale land? Why couldn’t Emma cure it? What was going on and why wouldn’t they tell him anything? He hated it when they didn't tell him anything. He had to go back.

Henry raced up to Ariel, who was still happily watching the rays. She knew something was wrong as soon as he looked at her.

“What is it?”

It all spilled out of him. His mother being sick, Emma using magic to make her better that didn’t actually make her any better, his grandparents lying to him and being weird and happy when they shouldn’t be happy. He didn’t know what a midwife was, but his mom definitely didn’t have food poisoning. 

Ariel hugged him, holding him tight. It was funny how when they were both merfolk, they were almost the same size, just right for hugging. 

“Let’s go ask Aquata, she’s lots older than I am and she studies things. She’s learning to be a healer and she knows all about diseases. Maybe she can help.”

“Would she?”

“Of course! She loves being smart and she’ll talk about her studies all day. Come on. She’ll be in the library.”

They raced off, drawing on the merfolk magic to speed through the sea as if miles could fly by like football fields. Henry wasn’t sure how it worked, it was some innate ability of merfolk so they could reach the whole ocean, but it was handy. Much faster than Hook’s ship, even though he said it was the fastest. 

Aquata was in the library, in the middle of a kelp scroll that wound all around her like a huge scarf gone horribly wrong. 

“Hi Aquata.” 

“Oh Ariel, you startled me.” She tried to get out of the scroll, but it only got more tangled. Ariel and Henry helped her roll it back up. “Why are you here? You don’t usually come to the library.”

“We need your help,” Henry said. “My mother’s sick and I don’t know what’s going on and my other mom just lied to me about it.”

Aquata sat him down on one of the coral benches and nodded. “Okay, what are her symptoms?”

Henry searched his memory. “Yesterday she was tired, kinda pale, and she sat on the dock with my other mom for a long time, so maybe she was sick then. Today she threw up, a lot, and they said it was food poisoning but she’d never get food poisoning. She’s so careful.”

Ariel’s dark haired sister gave him a puzzled but sympathetic look. “There are many diseases that start with vomiting. Anything else?”

“My grandma said a smell had made her sick. Can smells do that?”

“Under certain circumstances, yes,” Aquata nodded. She sang a group of notes that summoned a slender fish. “Please bring me the tomes of human illnesses, especially those of women.”

That made him remember. “Do you know what a midwife is? They kept talking about one.”

Aquata’s eyes went wide and she sang again, quickly. “Forgive me, Joseph, I actually need the scroll of human spawning.”

“Spawning?” Henry repeated.

“Having little ones. A baby,” Aquata said, trying to be gentle. 

Ariel took Henry’s hand and squeezed it. “What do you call it?” 

“Being pregnant, I guess.” He said it, stared at Aquata and then shook his head. “No, no, my mom can’t be pregnant.”

“But you have two moms,” Aquata said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “Surely being pregnant is how they got you.” She paused on the word ‘pregnant’, mouthing it as if she’d never heard it said before. Maybe she hadn’t.

“No, Emma was pregnant with me because of Neal, but he’s dead, and my other mom adopted me.”

“So two women could not normally spawn together in your world?” Aquata asked, pulling out a scroll and a pen made of coral and starting to take notes. 

“No, not in my world, I mean, not without science and doctors.”

“Which are forms of magic?” Ariel asked, peering over Aquata’s shoulder at her notes. “Here two women can have a child if they have enough magic. It’s quite common in merfolk because we often have more women than men. My father has seven daughters and he was quite rare when he was born a boy. That’s why everyone always thinks of us as mermaids. They usually only see the women.”

“My mom has magic, but not that kind of magic. She has bad magic. She hurts people and takes their hearts and casts curses.”

Joseph the librarian fish brought Aquata a scroll and she thanked him. Unrolling it, she scanned through until she found the entry she wanted. 

Aquata read aloud, “'A midwife is a human woman who assists in the spawning of other human women. Human spawning is difficult and painful because they carry their young within them, like the whales and dolphins'.” She looked up at Henry. “Does that help?”

“But my mom can’t be pregnant. She only has dark magic. Her magic only hurts people and ruins things.”

“Could she have been with a man who made her pregnant?” Aquata asked. “That would require no magic.”

“No,” Henry shook his head. His mom didn’t date. “That’s not it.”

“What about your other mom?” Ariel said. “Does she have magic? If she doesn’t have dark magic, maybe she brought life into your mother.”

“Emma only has a little magic,” he replied. Then he thought about it. Emma had enough magic to stop the curse trigger and save his mom. She’d been practising magic, learning from Regina. “She said it was her fault! Emma, my other mom, said it was her fault my mom was sick. She must have done it.”

“'Magic can often be the cause of spawning between two human women. Though they do not usually spawn without it, see scrolls on the...'” Aquata trailed off, ignoring the footnote. “Here it is. 'Two human women in the presence of enough magic can spawn with each other. This may result in the pregnancy of one, or in very rare cases, both women'.” She kept reading, muttering to herself how fascinating that was. 

“I think Aquata’s right, Henry. Your mom must be sp- pregnant,” Ariel said with a bright smile growing on her lips. “That’s great, isn’t it?” 

“No,” Henry said immediately. “Your scroll said great difficulty and pain, and she’s sick, really sick. How can that be great?”

“Sometimes we don’t mind a little suffering if we get a good outcome,” Aquata said. “Why do you think I study so hard?”

“But she was throwing up! My grandma called it morning sickness but it’s not always in the morning.”

“Hang on, I just read something about that. Here it is: 'Human women often suffer from a condition they call ‘morning sickness’ where certain foods, smells, even motion may cause spawning women to be nauseated, even vomit. It is considered a nuisance but not normally of any danger to the woman',” Aquata read. “This scroll must be ancient. We haven’t had contact with humans to discuss such things in centuries.”

“Vomit means throwing up?” Ariel asked. “What does throwing up mean?”

“It’s when your food comes out of your stomach through your mouth. It’s not nice.”

Ariel and her sister looked at each other, trying to imagine that and both looking extremely puzzled. 

“I do not think we experience such a thing,” Aquata said, looking for the index. “I haven’t heard of it. It is here in the definitions. It is what he said and it is often connected to morning sickness.”

“It’s not morning,” Ariel said, fidgeting with her hair. 

“The scroll says it is named such because it often strikes in the morning, though it is not always so.” Aquata read on, then stopped and looked up at Henry. “It says much more, but I don’t want to overwhelm you if your questions have been answered.”

Henry sighed, dropping his head to his hands. “How long does it last?”

Kelp flew around them as Aquata read. “It says it may last through from the second tide, through the third and into the fourth or fifth tide, depending on the woman.”

“How long is a tide?” Henry asked.

“Tides come with the moon, one very high and one very low as the moon shifts. The scroll says this sickness can last from the end of the first moon cycle until the fourth or fifth. Humans are usually pregnant for approximately ten cycles of the moon.”

Henry knew the moon phases from astronomy and had to think how long it took for the moon to get all the way around. A moon was almost a month, wasn’t it? That meant months. His mom was going to be sick for months. He wanted to go home, not back to the ship but all the way to Storybrooke where his mom was never sick and Emma didn’t use magic.

Storybrooke was gone. Erased because Emma had fully broken the curse. The only land was here, where his mom did more magic than ever, where Emma did magic too and even though he got to be a cabin boy on a pirate ship, it meant his mom was pregnant and sick. Sick for months. He hated it here. He might have even hated it more than Storybrooke before Emma came, except for the merfolk.

“I have to go back,” he said, nearly forgetting to thank Aquata. Ariel gave him a look and Henry corrected his mistake. “Sorry, Aquata. Thank you very much. I wouldn’t have known what was going on without you.” 

Aquata was deep in the scroll now, fascinated by the mysteries of humans carrying their spawn within them instead of laying eggs like merfolk. She waved goodbye to him and Ariel and they headed out of the city. After informing the guards, who dispatched a group of rays to keep them safe, they headed for the _Jolly Roger_ and the coast of Qin with all speed.


	9. Chapter 9

That morning was a little like a sleepover, except with her parents and her girlfriend, and even though that was possibly the weirdest combination, considering all of their histories, it was still kind of wonderful. Snow mentioned over breakfast that Regina had braided her hair when she was a girl, and after a little convincing, Regina had set to work on Emma’s. No one had spent any time on Emma’s hair since a foster house way back and it was nice to just sit there and listen to Regina and Snow talk about the occasionally good times they'd had together. Regina had taught Snow most of what she knew about horses, and helped Snow with all of her gowns for the countless balls the princess had to attend. When Regina finished, Emma’s hair was behind her head in a complicated plait. 

Emma's mother spoke so worshipfully of how beautiful Regina had been and how much she looked up to her that even David had been surprised. Emma thought they’d always been enemies, but it sounded like it was more complicated. Sometimes it seemed as if they'd almost been friends, especially on Snow's side. They drank green tea, purchased from the town, marvelled at how well Regina had made pancakes in the one skillet they had, and even tried to play the tile game, though Regina and Emma only knew the rules in the language of Qin and it was hard to teach when they kept getting the words wrong. 

When Regina finished, Emma’s hair was gorgeous, intricate and complex. Regina had even made it hold still, which no one had ever done because it was so fine, but she knew how to work it. It was much easier to move about the ship with it up and Emma was going to have to learn how to make braids too because it was useful and kind of lovely.

Her parents had let Regina do it, been polite and supportive and then fussed about how pretty it was. They hadn’t cringed when Regina had her hands in Emma’s hair and they’d been sweet all morning. Things were changing, maybe they already had, but it was one of the best mornings Emma had ever had on the ship (the one where they’d stayed in bed together, naked until lunch was never going to be topped), possibly in her life. 

Then they’d headed towards the deck to practice magic. In the heavy rain they could do more with fire without threatening the ship and Emma had been so excited to try something new. Of course, they walked right into trouble. 

Gold’s room was far in the bow of the ship, past the hold and the room where the hammocks hung from the crew. Whatever he was doing stank of burnt herbs, wet rot and something even more foul. Emma had been shocked by the stench of it but Regina had immediately gone pale. She’d swayed on her feet. Emma had worried she’d faint, but she’d steeled herself, then glanced at Emma and teleported. Emma was either dragged with her or teleported herself, she still wasn't actually sure and she hadn't spent that much thought on that. 

Out on deck, Regina had thrown up pancakes until her stomach was empty, then thrown up the water Emma had coaxed her to drink. When Emma focused, really focused, on a sense of wellbeing and cast that on Regina, she felt better, but Regina wouldn’t let her keep doing it. 

Then Henry had terrible timing (how did kids know when the worst possible time was anyway?) and Regina had let Emma pour magic into her until she could stop vomiting long enough to speak. Emma was fairly certain the kid hadn’t really bought it, but they hadn’t really lied to him. Regina was going to be fine, she was the one who repeated that the most. She was sort of food poisoned, in that whatever she’d eaten probably would have had the same effect, but it wasn’t a semantic the kid would appreciate. 

Whatever was in Snow’s tea (which smelt a little of Christmas cake) settled Regina’s stomach a little, and she kept that down. Regina drank it slowly, even letting it get cold and the rain fell in it, but Snow continued bringing her more. Hook offered to get them out of the rain with a tarp but Regina liked the rain on her face, so they sat there and let it fall. It was warm summer rain anyway, not even cold, just wet. They sat by the side, Regina’s head between her knees. 

Emma wasn’t sure how long they’d been up on the deck, but their clothes were soaked through and clung to them both like seaweed. It was still pouring, turning the sea grey like the sky. Regina said she liked the cold, so Emma hadn’t pushed to go in. Her lips weren’t blue, so there was nothing to really worry about. She could dry Regina off and tuck her in later, when she was done. 

“Morning sickness is a terrible name.” Regina swallowed hard against her stomach. Turning her chin up to the rain, she let it run down her face. 

“All-the-time sickness would scare people off procreating,” Emma replied, wishing she could do anything to help.

With Regina's eyes shut, the rain ran over her lids. “You don’t have to sit here with me. I’m perfectly capable of waiting to vomit by myself.”

“What if you want someone to hold your hair back?”

Regina smiled, and it was a weary motion of her lips, yet sincere. Her dark hair was so wet it was plastered to her head, so Emma did not need to offer. 

“Feeling any better?”

“If I don’t move my head, don’t smell anything but the rain and the sea, and don’t stand up, I’m fine.” 

Emma pursed her lips and nodded, though Regina’s eyes were still shut. “So great then, huh?”

“My neck’s stiff. The deck’s less comfortable than I wish but--“ Regina shrugged very carefully, moving her shoulders as if she were afraid they’d trigger something. 

“Mary- Snow, I mean, really went to town on Gold. Could you hear her through the deck?”

Regina opened her eyes and brought down her face to look at Emma, moving as if she were made of ancient glass that might shatter at any moment. “I think they heard that on land.”

Emma grinned. It wasn’t funny, except that it was, because Rumplestiltskin had all of his powers and her mother hadn’t thought about that in the slightest before she’d gone to yell at him for not taking proper precautions before he cast anything that smelt so wretched in the cramped quarters of their ship.

“Tell me what you want in the bedroom, our room, I mean,” Emma said, still smiling. “Dad’s going into town again and he’s pretty good at shopping. If he brings the stuff back, we can put it up when you’re feeling better.” 

“Trying to distract me with the prospect of redecorating?” 

“Yes. Will it work?”

“As long as I don’t have to move.” 

Emma laughed and very gently kissed her cheek. “I’ll do all the moving, I just need to get something to write on and find a way to keep it from getting wet.”

Shutting her eyes again, Regina smirked. “You know what to do.”

“Anti-sogginess spells are not in my limited knowledge bank,” Emma replied. “Talk me through it.”

“What are you trying to do?” Regina’s teacher tone was lower and less pained than her ‘Emma I’m fine’ tone, which was an improvement. 

“Keep the rain from ruining my parchment so I can write on it.” 

“Do you want to keep the rain off or make the parchment impermeable to water?” 

“The second one sounds better.” 

“What do you need to picture?”

“Rain sliding off it, not removing the ink, not ruining the parchment.”

“What do you need to remember?”

“To make sure the ink can still stick, so I can write on it. If I make the parchment impermeable to everything, it’ll be useless.”

Regina’s very slow smile had a sweetness to it that warmed Emma’s already molten heart. “That sounds wise.”

Heading below deck with her feet, not her magic, Emma grabbed some parchment and a quill (her handwriting with them was awful, but her parents said she just needed practice). She’d have to spell the quill too or she’d never be able to write in the rain. She shut her eyes, holding the parchment in her fingers. She focused on making it sturdy, saw the rain sliding off of it like it were stone, but the ink sinking in. She pictured the tip of the quill continuing to write in the rain and just before she headed back up, Emma remembered the ink. She held the pot in her hands and made it waterproof, still dark on paper, able to come off skin, but impervious to rain. 

At least, so she hoped. 

Regina had dared to move. She'd shifted her legs from being against her chest to crossed beneath her, as if she were meditating. Emma set her hopefully waterproof things down and traced Regina’s hand, running her finger slowly along Regina's wet skin. 

“I won’t break, I promise.”

“I know,” Emma said, finding her way up one finger after another. “I just, I want to make it better.”

“Because it’s your fault?”

“No, because you’re sick and I want you not to be sick.”

Regina twitched her finger in response to Emma’s touch, then opened her palm to allow her to continue. “You hardly need me to save you from your hormones.” 

“My hormones?”

Emma sat directly in front of her, so that when Regina opened her eyes, she got to see her smile. 

“This is your fault, remember? Obviously the hormones that make me sick are from your half of the baby.”

“Right,” Emma said, her smile growing. “Sorry about that.”

“Emma, I told you, it’s all right.” Her fingers squeezed Emma’s hand and didn't let go. 

“Why aren’t you cursing me and blaming me for ruining your ability to keep down food for the next few months?” 

“Because this isn’t an illness, it’s a process,” Regina had a kind of calm Emma had rarely heard from her. “It just feels much like an illness,” she finished with only a hint of frustration. 

“So what are you thinking about?”

“How I’ve never paid much attention to my body. It does what I want, looks how I wish most of the time, provides me with a fairly impressive reservoir of magic, yet it still found the time to create life with you, and I wasn’t even listening to it. I didn't know it could support life at all. There’s magic there too, yours and mine, but this is an intense physical experience. In my life, I have put so little thought into in the physical.” 

Emma kissed Regina’s open palm. “You’re kind of poetic when you’re sick.” 

Reaching for Emma with her eyes still shut, Regina felt her way up until she cupped Emma’s cheek. “What I really can’t stop thinking is how much I love you. How I love that your baby is growing within me. I’m so happy that I don’t even care that standing up will probably make me vomit again.” 

She opened one eye and smirked at Emma. “That last part’s less than poetic, I do apologise.”

“Regina--“ Emma said and stopped, overwhelmed. She sucked at talking. 

Regina always said such lovely things. Even when she was pissed she had great words for it. Emma just wanted to kiss her and tell her that way how much she loved her. She couldn’t; she didn’t want to risk it. She settled down across from Regina, mirroring her position. Laying her hands on her knees, Emma stretched her fingers towards Regina’s. 

She pictured their baby, with Regina’s dark hair and eyes, just a few minutes old, how Henry had been when she held him. Emma settled the image in her mind, fed it with the gooey strength of her lovestruck heart, and then brought it out. 

Then she was there, moving her tiny fists in that way newborns did when they had no idea what their limbs did. Emma hadn’t given her a hat because she liked her dark hair, but she added a blanket, the kind of blanket she had because Snow would definitely make one. Granny and Ruby, half the town would probably make this baby little blankets, but one like Emma’s was closest to her heart. She settled the image, letting it float in the rain between them. When she was sure she could hold it, she nudged Regina’s fingers. 

“I keep seeing the baby like this,” she confessed.

Curious, Regina opened her eyes as the image of the baby kicked her foot free from the blanket and her tiny toes appeared. 

Regina’s gasp echoed in Emma’s ears, even with the rain. Both of her hands grabbed Emma’s again, tight, and she stared at the image.

“I think a lot about what the baby will look like. How she’ll probably get your hair, and your eyes, and hopefully your ears.”

“There’s nothing wrong with your ears.” Regina's voice was barely more than a choked whisper. 

“Now, sure, but when I had a smaller head they were a nightmare. I looked like a troll doll, just when troll dolls were all the rage.”

“Trolls have ears in proportion to their bodies,” Regina said, perplexed. 

“Not in my world. I suppose I mean my ex-world. Anyway, they were these little plastic dolls with huge ears and wild coloured hair. It was not good for my childhood.”

Regina stopped looking at her and stared at the image of the baby, her eyes liquid. “You haven’t even studied projection, Emma.”

“I wanted you to see what I see, because I didn’t really have the right thing to say. I think the baby’s going to be wonderful and I’m so excited I feel like it’s going to burst out of me.”

“Like _Alien_?” Regina said, smiling as tears mixed with the rain on her face. 

“Totally like _Alien._ I love you. I love our baby, I love Henry, get me at the right moment and I probably love the ship and Hook too, because my heart’s so full it’ll probably overflow like that.”

Reaching for her chest, Regina rested her hand there, feeling Emma’s heart beat with her cool fingers. The image of the potential baby still hung between them, right at eye level. 

“I never saw Henry when he was that small.”

“I only saw him that small. We’re going to see all of this one. I’ll see her walk. You’ll see her not know what her mouth is for or that she can move her little fists and everything’s going to be wonderful.” She had to be practical so she could live with her own sappiness. “After we sail around the magical world, get rid of the ogres, clean up the kingdom and uh, probably get married so no one complains about the future queen having a baby with the previous one.”

“Emma Swan, I will not marry you if that’s what you consider a proposal.” 

Which wasn’t a no. It was more of a ‘do better and I’ll think about it’, which made Emma’s heart even more of a hot, aching lump. She adored every minute of it.

* * *

After a very late lunch, that Emma insisted she eat, and a nap, Regina felt half-human again. Her head warned her with the beginnings of a dull ache, and her throat was a little sore, but it was nothing like it had been. She hadn't known she could become ill so fast, and have it drag on for such a long time. Emma must have sat with her for hours. She dressed, pulling on a fresh tunic, a dark purple skirt and a matching dark purple robe with black trim. Emma had thoughtfully left out dry clothes and taken away her sodden ones. She was getting better at the little domestic things, like making sure her own clothing didn’t all live under the bed. 

Regina ran her hands through her mostly dry hair and wondered if they should get a looking glass. Even a small one would help make this room feel more like a place they lived, instead of a place they had been stuck for awhile. She would add it to Emma’s list of things to decorate with, when she found Emma. 

Since there was no other public space below deck, she found her in the galley. Emma sat at the table with the impressively dry, waterproof list to one side and a long scroll of parchment in front of her. Emma still had her hair braided and it had dried that way, though a few wisps hung free. It would be all kinky when Regina undid it that night and the thought of it in her fingers made her smile.

“Hey,” Emma said, without looking. “Did you really have all this history memorised?”

“I might have.” Walking behind her, Regina rested her hands on Emma’s shoulders. “What is it?”

“Hi,” Emma repeated, surprised and now caring enough to turn around and stand up. “Feeling better?”

“Much.” 

Snow and David might have returned any moment but Regina kissed her anyway. The Charmings would learn to live with it, as she tolerated their constant affection for each other. 

“What are you trying to memorise?”

“The history of the Enchanted Forest. Mr. Gold magiced it onto a piece of parchment for me so I'd know something about our land and...it’s really long.” Emma lifted her end of the scroll and the rest of it rustled on the deck beneath the table. 

“You don’t have to learn the whole thing verbatim.” Regina sat down next to her. “It’s important to know where you come from but there’s not going to be a history test before you take the throne.”

“They’d have to get a new saviour if that was the case. I’m terrible at history, not very good at literature or english, or really school at all.”

“So are most of your nobles, and a good portion of your not-so noble folk. Some of them only learned to read because of the curse. The nobles want the appearance of culture and decorum so they can look up to you and pretend to be interested in what you’re interested in so to carry your favour. I often pretended to become fascinated with a new book that didn't exist each week, just to see how many people I could get to pretend to have read it.”

“You truly were an evil queen,” Emma muttered.

Regina fixed her with an imperious glare. “Don’t worry too much about it. You have months to get it into your head, and even after we get back you’ll have advisors and tutors and people you didn’t know existed before just to help you do everything.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Sounds wonderful.”

“Many people think so, rarely do they become royalty and find out.”

Rolling up her incredibly long history of the Enchanted Forest, Emma sighed. “Trying to keep you from vomiting was more fun.”

“I apologise for recovering.”

Emma slid across the bench and held her, tight. “Thanks.”

Surprised by the sudden embrace, Regina rested her head against Emma’s. “You really don’t have to worry. I’ll throw up lunch a few times, start taking an afternoon and a morning nap and before you know it, it’ll be over and you’ll find something else to worry about.”

“I should be saying that,” Emma said, snuggling closer. “And I like worrying about you. You’re easier than history.” 

Regina released her in mock indignation. “I don’t know how to take that.”

“However you like,” Emma replied. “Up for some magic training? It’s stopped raining but everything’s still wet if you want to do anything flammable.”

“How far are we from port?” Regina asked. Thinking of a spell she’d been wanting to try, she hoped they were far enough away to prevent any chaos if they played with it too close to land.

“Hook brought us out a bit so the merfolk would be more secure coming and going. We’re kind of around a bend from the docks, still close but less visible.”

Opening one of the ancient books, Regina focused just enough to turn a few pages from their ornate characters to words more easily understood. 

“This is a version of a levitation spell. It demands a high degree of control, so I think it will be a good next step for you.”

Emma quickly read it over and her eyes went wide. “You think I can do that?”

Regina shook her head. Emma truly didn’t understand what power she had. “You fought off Hook’s dagger and sword with a ball of light and covered the deck in roast chestnuts, I think you can handle a little defiance of gravity. Now, read the spell again, slowly and then take it into yourself, like this.”

She concentrated, blew the spell off the page so the ink hung in the air, then inhaled. The familiar tingle of new magic rushed through her, filling her with promise.

“You want me to inhale the spell?”

It had obediently reappeared in the book, again in the characters of Qin, but that didn’t matter. Emma knew what it did. 

“Blow on it, then pull it into you.”

“Blow on it.”

“Just like I did.”

Emma sighed more than blew, but the ink lifted from the page and hung in the air, waiting for her. She inhaled, almost as if she expected it to sting or make her sneeze. Instead Emma’s eyes glowed bright blue, then she smiled. 

“Headrush.”

“I told you magic was a turn on.”

Emma nodded. “I suppose the worst that happens is that I get wet. Again.”

Emma had a point. They both only had one more set of dry clothes. She’d been meaning to obtain more, perhaps with a little more variety in the embroidery, but she hadn’t made it to town. 

“Just wear the undertunic. If we’re far enough out that no one will see merfolk, I doubt anyone will be able to tell we’re scantily clad.”

“So this is magic practice and foreplay. I get it.” Emma’s smirk nearly lit up the galley. “Sounds fun.” 

“We’ll take the rowboat. Meet you on deck in a few minutes?”

“I’ll be there. Unless I decide to go off the rails and huff the rest of this book...”

“Magic has a price, Miss Swan.”

“Is there some kind of hangover?”

Regina paused in the galley doorway. “When I throw you into the sea, you’ll be wet.”

When Regina left to change, Emma followed her, muttering about being wet not necessarily being a bad thing. 

Luckily, the evening was warm. Mist hung heavily over the water, hiding all but the far trees who watched them over the sea. Emma rowed out until the _Jolly Roger_ was nearly gone in the mist as well, but they were connected by a long rope so they could find their way back and wouldn’t drift too far away. Regina sat in front of her, only wearing her thin undertunic. It was pale purple, almost too pastel for her. Emma’s was just as bad, a soft, almost translucent tan. 

Regina stood, getting her feet under her on the wood before she tried anything more radical.

“I know you’re going to say you’re fine.”

“I feel fine.” She had the suspicion she’d be saying that until the words had no meaning. “I’m excited to try this. I’ve never really had anyone to practice with before. Magic has always been a very individual thing for me.”

Emma took that in and nodded. “You don’t mind me intruding?”

“If I did, I wouldn’t have brought you.” Regina folded her arms over her chest. Both of them had so much to get over. “Now, we need rules.”

“Rules?”

“Yes, whichever of us falls in the sea first, loses.” 

“What do they lose?”

Regina let her wickedness sneak into her smile. “Whatever you want to wager.”

“What are we attacking with?” Emma saw the wanting in her face, but she was cautious. 

“Water. There’s plenty of it and you can’t hurt me with it, which is what you’re really concerned about.” 

Calmed by that, Emma nodded to her. “So, we’re out here, alone, walking on water and trying to hit each other with it.” 

“If you want to put it so crudely. It’s a levitation spell, not like walking, more like pushing off from the water and hovering in the air as long as you can.”

Emma smirked and pulled the oars in before she stood up across from her. “You are aware you just challenged me to the equivalent of a magical wet t-shirt contest.”

Whatever that was sounded quite lewd, which was probably why Emma seemed so pleased with the idea. “I’m trying to motivate you in ways that will appeal to you.”

Fidgeting with the beads on her wrist, Emma nodded. “Okay. So the boat’s off limits?”

Regina’s smile blossomed, this would be a challenge, even if Emma didn’t have much confidence. “The boat’s off limits.” 

“Can we have some kind of point system so you don’t dunk me and finish it in less than a minute?”

“Immersion counts as a point?” 

Emma nodded to that. “First to three.” 

“Your wager, Emma? 

Standing there on the boat, Emma stared at Regina’s hands, of all things. Finally she decided: “I get to throw my clothes where I want for a week and I don’t have to pick them up.”

Regina considered that and nodded. “If you win, I will allow you to do so, without comment. If I win-“

Emma braced herself, but Regina’s request took her by surprise. 

“You take me to dinner.” 

“Dinner? Like a date?”

Regina nodded. “We’ve never been on one. I think it would be nice.” 

They had jumped from two people who uncomfortably co-parented to two people about to become parents. They hadn’t courted and quite possibly hadn’t even held hands until after Regina was already pregnant. She hadn’t grown up in a world that allowed for dating, but she’d seen others go on them and the idea was a pleasant mystery. Besides, making it a wager took the concern out of asking. Even if Emma thought it was silly, she’d be honourable. Being alone with Emma, anywhere but the ship sounded nice, even though they were in the middle of mystical Qin and Emma more than likely had no idea where to take a date, she’d work it out. She was quite competent at that translation spell now. 

Emma put out her hand. “Deal.” 

Slightly relieved Emma hadn’t spit on her hand, Regina shook. Emma stepped over the bench she’d been sitting on, so she stood by the corner of the boat. 

Beneath the mist, the water was still, like dark marble. Emma climbed carefully up so she stood balanced on the corner of the boat, her bare feet poised like a dancer’s. Had she ever studied dance? It probably wasn’t something that was available to abandoned children, which Regina found sad because the lines of Emma’s arms were so elegant.

Emma fingered the beads at her wrist, summoning the spell she’d just inhaled. She nodded again. 

Regina climbed up to stand in the bow, facing Emma with most of the rowboat between them. Perhaps they’d both fail miserably and end up pulling each other out of the sea. 

“Begin,” Regina said.

Emma didn’t just leave the stern of the boat, she flew, landing lightly on the water before she skipped off it as if she weighed no more than an insect. Regina had just found her own balance, trying to reconcile the new lightness of her being when Emma lashed out. A long stream of water rose from the sea and reached for Regina as if drawn by an invisible thread. 

She called her own and sent Emma’s away. Emma took another step, hovering over the sea and twirling before she landed again. Joy burned naked on her face and it was difficult to remember that Regina had tasked them to fight. 

Forming a ball of water with the same control Regina used for her fireballs, she dodged another one of Emma’s tentacles. She tossed the ball towards where she thought Emma would be and pushed off the water again. Rising into the air had a joy akin to flying and falling back to the sea only held the promise of another rise. 

Throwing two balls at Emma, she twisted her legs, found her centre of gravity and flipped, head over heels, to dodge another attack. 

Emma went at her full on after that, convinced by Regina's gymnastics that she did not need to hold back. Emma realised first that her hands worked on the sea, as it her knees. She’d had some kind of martial training, and she moved through the air with purpose. 

Regina had some training with a blade, and all the dancing training her mother could force her to undergo. It helped, but she lacked the force Emma had behind her movements. She had the edge in multitasking, but Emma probably could have flown circles around her, given the chance. 

Emma nearly got her with two tentacles, one high and one low, but Regina turned parallel to the water and narrowly avoiding both. Dodging her responding waterball, Emma toyed with her beads. She pulled water up, filling her hands as if she was making a waterball, like Regina’s, but instead it was a watery version of the orb from last night. 

In Emma’s hands, the orb reached out as if it were alive with her will, knocking back Regina’s assault. She’d seen Emma take down Hook quickly with this skill, so she changed tactics. Calling a slow arm from the sea, Regina wound it behind Emma, out of her vision. She had to keep attacking with both hands to keep Emma distracted and the orb busy and she nearly sank up to her ankle before she remember to bounce back up. 

The tendrils of the orb lashed out, reaching for Regina while she was distracted. Then she threw the heavy rear attack at Emma. 

Down she went, and Emma came up sputtering. 

“From behind. Classy.”

Regina landed near Emma and pulled her from the sea as if she had no weight at all. “I’m trying to remind you to watch all avenues of attack."

Emma shook the water from her eyes and grinned. “One-zero.”

Now that she’d reminded Emma to attack from behind, Regina had to be more vigilant and it was increasingly hard to get anywhere near Emma with her attacks. She sent four at once and one hit Emma in the leg, but it only made her tunic a bit more wet and transparent. 

Bouncing off the surface twice, running towards her instead of away, Emma caught her off-guard and came from underneath, neatly taking advantage of Regina’s lack of weight and tipping her down by grabbing her foot. 

The sea enveloped her before she could think, wrapping her in warmth. Her lightness suddenly gone, Regina broke the surface and watched as Emma dropped for her with one hand on the water, and the other for Regina. 

“One-one.”

Coming out of the sea was like being reborn into the air. She was free of the water as if it had been tar, hindering all of her movements. Shaking off the seawater, she watched Emma with wary caution. Emma was faster, physically stronger, and manoeuvred better. She still had the advantage in firepower, but Emma had managed to get her orb to circle her, leaving her hands free. 

She needed to learn the orb trick, which would be difficult because Emma seemed to have made it up. Pondering a kind of defence, Regina drew up three waterballs and set them circling around her. 

Reaching for Emma’s orb, she wondered if she could turn it against her. She felt Emma's energy all over it, ruling the water she controlled. If she pushed, Regina could probably take it, but it would take much of her strength and most of her control. 

The tendrils of Emma’s orb reached for her again, pulling the waterballs Regina was using for defence out their orbit. She released them, letting them fall back to the sea. 

Throwing her arms back, she pulled water up in missiles, sleek and accurate. She could throw several of those at a time, making Emma’s defences into a blur. Seawater splashed around Emma, adding to the mist. Keeping up the assault, Regina pulled the missiles up in quick succession, burying Emma in them. 

Except, Emma wasn’t there. She’d left her orb behind, let it take all of Regina’s assault and she was behind her, then above her, and a trio of missiles, a neat copy of her spell, slammed into her. 

This time she knew to breathe out as she hit the water, keeping the stinging seawater out of her nose. 

Emma pulled her up again. “I like the missile trick.”

“One-two.” 

She kept Emma close, not letting her out of her sight and brought her down when Emma’s concentration wavered as she attempted a wave beneath Regina’s feet. It was a good move, and if Regina had been a second slower to realise she had no footing beneath her, she would have lost. 

Dragging Emma up, Regina waited for her to shake the water from her eyes and both of them took a moment to catch their breath. Her heart was pounding, rushing in her ears. Magic was in all of her senses, filling her with the kind of awareness she never had without using it. Everything within her was more alive and all of her sense reported back in more detail. The brine of the sea richer, the grey fog softer and she could hear the slow trickling of water off both of their bodies as it rejoined the sea.

Emma’s blood was up as well. There was colour in her cheeks and a glint in her eyes. “Two-two.”

Now she was hungry and came at her like a tactician, circling, checking for weakness, waiting for her to slip up. Regina hadn’t fought many people who could avoid her attacks at all, let alone predict them. She had to do better, find something Emma wouldn’t expect. Spinning from one foot to the other, she kept herself a difficult target. 

Turning up her assault, Emma pulled so many missiles from the sea that they came at Regina as if all part of the same stream of water. 

Dodging, floating, twirling out of the way, Regina pushed off hard and rose above Emma. 

Calling an arsenal from the sea, Emma lay in wait for her, between her and all of her ammunition. Except, she had what she needed. Regina pulled the mist from the air, the water from her clothing, skin and hair. Then she bound the mist together in a compacting ball. Emma was still staring at her, enthralled as it hit her, ruining her concentration and sending her down into the sea. 

Dropping to the churning surface where Emma had disappeared, Regina pulled her up. 

“That was amazing,” Emma said. She twirled the water from herself as if she had a spin cycle, getting much of it on Regina, who was somewhat dry after her trick. 

Shaking her head, Regina guided them both back to the boat, which was collaterally drenched. They landed and Regina reluctantly released the levitation spell. She nearly collapsed onto the bench seat, surprised by her own weight. 

Emma laughed when she suffered a similar effect. “I liked flying. Normal gravity’s a pain. Even my hair's heavy.” 

They sat, panting and staring at each other, both utterly sodden though Regina was still a little drier. 

“How did you--?”

“I was covered in water.”

“Right,” Emma said. She nodded to Regina's superiority. “You deserve it. You’ll get your dinner date.” 

“Thank you.” Regina moved to sit next to Emma and took one of the oars. “You may leave your clothes on the floor tonight, but only the dry ones. We’re too short on clothing for you to lose anything to damp. All the wet things have to be hung up.”

Taking the other oar, Emma looked for the slack in the rope. “You realise with that kind of carte blanche I have to throw everything I own that’s dry onto the floor.” 

“I expected something similar.”

“I’ll pick them up in the morning.”

“You’ll need them in the morning.” 

Emma chuckled and started to row. Regina followed her rhythm. 

“But I won’t tonight?”

Regina let her leg brush suggestively against Emma's. “That would be a safe assumption.”

* * *

On the deck of the _Jolly Roger_ , Henry passed the spyglass back to Hook and brought his gaze to his grandma. 

“She looks okay.”

“Regina’s fine. She got sick this afternoon because Mr. Gold forgot to seal his room while he worked on some magic. It had a very strong scent and it made her sick. We thought it was better to let you think it was food poisoning because your mothers didn’t want to tell you over a magic shell.”

“Tell me what?” Henry asked, waiting for Snow to prove that she knew because everyone but him probably knew. 

“I think you should hear it from them,” David said, standing behind Snow. “Regina’s fine now. She might be sick again, but it’s really not something you need to worry about. She recovers very quickly.”

“I don’t understand,” Henry said, looking from one face full of secrets to the other. 

David waved to Emma in the rowboat and then they were both there on the deck, standing in front of him in a puff of purple and blue smoke. Regina brought the boat in with magic, neatly stowing it. Snow handed them both towels, fussing over each of them for being so wet. 

“Henry,” she said, reaching for him. He hugged her quickly, but he wanted answers more than affection. 

“You’re okay?”

“I’m fine,” she promised. She sounded better. He thought she was still pale, like she had been in the market, but she seemed happy, even if her hair was kind of messed up. 

“What were you doing?”

“Teaching me to fight,” Emma said, holding out her arms for her hug. 

He broke it off quickly. “With magic?”

“Yeah, kid, with magic.”

“But why? Can’t you use a sword or a bow?”

His moms looked at each other, both of them somehow sad. 

“Henry, I don’t use a sword or a bow because I’m much better at using magic to defend myself,” Regina said. 

“And it turns out, I am too,” Emma added, reaching for Regina’s hand. “This world is not like ours. It’s dangerous. I had a gun back home because I knew how to use it. Here, I have magic, and it’s kind of like a gun. If I’m going to use it, I need to know how it works.” 

“And you liked it?”

They looked at each other again and both nodded. 

“You like learning the bow with your grandma?” Emma said. “It’s like that for us. We’re learning new things.”

“But it’s _magic_.” They had seen all he had seen, how could they still use it?

“This world is full of magic, Henry,” Regina said. “Not using what we have would be dangerous, for all of us.”

“You know I don’t like it when you use magic.”

Emma took a deep breath. “Henry, we’re not controlling anyone, we’re not hurting anyone, we were just, well, playing, really.”

“Doesn’t magic have a price? How can you just play with it, like it’s nothing?”

Emma got down to her knees in front of him, bringing her face to his level. “Perhaps this will have a price, kid, but it’s in me, and I need to know how to use it. It wasn’t dangerous at all, it was pretty cool. I bounced off water and it was like I could fly.”

“I thought you were going to learn healing magic, good magic,” he accused. 

“I don’t think flying magic is inherently evil or good,” Emma said. “I think some of it has to be kind of neutral.”

Regina crouched next to Emma, also down so she could meet his eyes. “We haven’t done anything wrong, Henry.” 

“You were trying not to use magic. Magic almost destroyed our town and all of us. What changed here? Why is this magic okay?”

“Because it causes no pain, has no death in it, and is about keeping us safe.”

“But you learned how to attack.”

“For self defence,” Emma reminded him. “And for your defence. If you get hit, sometimes you gotta hit back. Most of the time it’s better to run away, but sometimes you have to.”

“But you could learn the bow to keep ogres away. You don’t need to use magic.”

Regina tilted her head. “I’m a terrible shot with a bow.”

“You could practice.”

“And while I practice, something could come for you, Emma, or your grandparents and I wouldn’t be able to defend them.”

They weren’t going to understand. Adults were always so stubborn. “I still don’t like magic.”

“I know,” Emma said, hugging him again. “Look, we’ll try not to do it in front of you.”

“Some of it's cool. Like turning into merfolk, or translating books, but when magic’s used as a weapon, it’s too much like what Cora did, and she nearly killed everyone I love.”

Regina looked sad. “The only weapon Emma just used was seawater, and aside from the salt in my hair, no damage was done, I promise. But Emma and I need to study magic, and we’ll use it for defence because it’s our best option, and this world is dangerous.” 

“It’s just, the heroes don’t use magic. Not if they don’t have to.”

Emma messed up his hair. She knew he hated it but did it anyway. “Maybe we need to get you a new book. Gandalf uses magic, and he’s pretty heroic.”

“And Galadriel,” Snow said from behind them. She’d been there when Emma had made them watch _Lord of the Rings_ and had really liked all the elves.

“See, some heroes do use magic.”

“What about the price?” he asked, looking from one mother to the other. “What’s the price of this magic?”

Neither of them had an answer. 

“Sometimes prices are complicated,” Emma said, but she knew it was a weak answer. 

“Responsibility,” Regina said. “The price of this magic is responsibility. Emma and I both have to be careful with what we do.”

Emma grinned. “With great power comes great responsibility. Henry, it's like your moms are both Spiderman, except without the suit, and it’s going to be okay.”

“Superheroes?” Henry shook his head. “You think magic makes you superheroes?”

Regina had no idea where Emma had taken the conversation, but Emma nodded. 

“Is that easier for you? Spiderman has a lot of power and he decides to use it for good, to keep people safe. Your mom and I are going to do that. We’re going to keep people safe.”

“But what if you like it?” Henry asked, staring at the deck. “You both looked so happy. What if you like using it a lot and no one needs to be safe? What are you going to do?”

“We’ll practice with each other,” Regina said, smiling. “I’m sure Emma wants a rematch.”

“Oh you are so on,” Emma said. 

He felt something had shifted. Emma, who’d always been more on his side about magic, now liked it. She really liked it and he didn't think that was going to change. Henry still had to ask about the other thing, and that made his face burn. 

“Why were you sick before, mom? I know it wasn’t food poisoning.”

“It kind of was,” Emma said. “She had food and it didn’t work very well.” 

Regina elbowed her and both of them looked at each other again. The look that passed between them was a new one. Something he wasn’t that used to seeing. Yeah, they were dating, and sometimes that was kind of strange, but it was nice that they rarely argued, and really liked spending so much time together. 

“Why do you think I was sick?”

Did they know he’d heard them with the shell? He’d been so certain none of them understood how it worked. 

“I don’t know. I just know food poisoning was a lie.”

“Henry--“

“I hate it when you lie to me, and you said you’d never do it again.”

Emma nodded, guilt on her face. “I lied. I didn’t want you to worry, not because I don’t trust you, but because there are some things you don’t want to say until someone’s right in front of you.”

Regina reached for her and Emma took her hand. 

“Henry,” Regina started. “I was sick because I’m pregnant.” 

Aquata was right. He stared at them both, trying to decide what to do. He felt weird, confused, and a little disgusted by the idea of a baby just magically appearing inside of his mom and making her sick.

“Being pregnant makes you sick?”

Emma, Regina, even his grandparents, all nodded at him. 

“Sometimes it does,” Emma said. “It doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with your mom, there’s just a lot going on in her body and sometimes, with all that going on, her body gets confused and then she gets sick.”

“Why are you pregnant?” 

“Why?” Regina repeated. “Because of magic, I suppose. Emma and I accidentally--“

“Made a baby,” Emma finished. “Kind of weird, huh?”

“How is that responsible?” 

Emma looked like she was about to laugh and Regina nudged her to make her stop. 

“It’s not,” Regina admitted. “We weren’t.”

“So you want me to trust you with magic because you say you’re responsible, but you were not responsible enough know you could have a baby with magic?”

“Hey, It’s not like we killed one,” Emma said. 

“Emma.” Regina gave her a look.

“I’m serious. We made a mistake and we made a baby. It’s kind of a surprise, but it’s a baby, not the plague. We like kids. We love you and now you’ll have a sister. That’s not the worst surprise you could have had.” Emma looked him straight in the eye. “If one of us was your dad instead of your mom, we could have just as easily gotten pregnant and made you a sibling, without ever meaning to and without any magic at all. Babies are sometimes a really big surprise, but that doesn’t mean they’re a bad surprise.”

“I was a surprise,” he said, looking back at Emma. “Are you keeping this one?” He said it to hurt her, but his other mom was the one who looked more sad. 

“Yes,” Regina said, so quickly that he worried she was angry with him. “We’re keeping this one.”

“What if something goes wrong?”

“What do you mean, goes wrong?” Regina repeated, her face still.

“You made the baby with magic, can you unmake it?”

“No.” Regina’s was soft. 

“Oh no, Henry, no, we can’t.” Emma’s was firm. “We’re keeping the baby. We love you and we know this is pretty weird for you, but magic’s not going to take the baby away.”

“And you’re happy.”

“Yes,” they said, almost with the same voice. 

“We’re very happy,” Regina said. 

Emma nodded. “Extremely happy.”

“Weren’t you happy before?”

“Yeah, but now we’re a different happy.”

He wanted to go. He’d gotten so used to running to Emma when Regina disappointed him and then to Neal when he was mad at Emma. Now there was nowhere to run and no one to run too. 

Regina touched his shoulder the way she did when she was really serious. “The important thing is that we love you, we love each other and we’re going to make a family together.” 

“It’ll be weird, and your mom will get sick. We’ll fight and babies can be really annoying, but we’ll be fine because this is our happy ending. You, me, your mom, we’re all going home.” Emma never called the Enchanted Forest home. She liked her car and her jeans, except now she believed it. The fairy tale was home now. 

“Okay,” he said, looking at their faces. “I love you both.”

Both his moms stood up and then they hugged him together, holding him close. His head was on Regina’s chest and he nearly jerked away when something cold stung him. That was pretty weird. It must have just been water or something, she was still all wet.

They held him a long time, and when they finally released him, Emma was smiling, and so was Regina, but she was forcing hers. 

Henry realised his amulet was on the outside of his shirt and tucked it away. It felt colder than it usually did against his skin.

“What?” Emma’s hand caught Regina's, quick. 

Regina sat down on the deck, nearly falling from her feet. “Cold, dizzy.” 

Emma brought up her hands and then there was blue light, all over Regina. 

“What’s going on?”

Snow and David came for him, holding him close. 

“Your mom’s just a little sick.”

“Now?” He stared as Emma’s light washed over his mom. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” Snow said, rubbing his shoulder. “Being pregnant’s kind of weird. One minute you’re fine. The next, your head’s spinning. She probably stood up too fast from the deck. Emma will take care of her, and she’ll be fine. Why don’t we go down to the galley see about dinner?”

“Are you sure she’s okay?”

His mom’s eyes were open again now, and Emma was talking to her. She looked better but it had taken magic to make her better. 

“She’s fine,” David said. “Snow was just like that when she was pregnant with Emma.”

“I really was,” his grandma agreed. She wasn’t lying now. “Sometimes, when I stood up from the throne I got so dizzy Charming had to catch me.”

“Really?”

“All the time, kid, all the time.”

* * *

“I was fine. I was fine then my knees weren’t there.” Regina had her hands in Emma's lap, their fingers entwined again.

Emma smiled at her, a warm sympathetic knot lodged in her stomach. “Stood up too fast.” 

“I suppose,” Regina said, unconvinced. She pulled Emma’s hands in towards her chest. “It was so cold.”

“What was?”

“I don’t know.” Regina reached for her stomach, as if something had stung her. “When Henry hugged me, I went cold.”

Emma pulled up her tunic. There, on the skin of Regina’s stomach was a red mark, like a fresh burn. Emma’s blue light came immediately to her fingers, ready to heal the damage, but she made it wait. They needed to know what it was.

“What is it?” Regina asked, staring down with her.

“I have no idea. It’s almost a circle. Does it hurt?”

“It throbs like a burn.”

“I can heal it.”

“It probably is magic,” Regina said, pulling down her top. “I’ll get dressed and have Rumplestiltskin take a look at it.”

“Maybe something was on Henry’s shirt--“ Emma began.

“His amulet,” Regina finished. “It was outside his shirt when he hugged me. It’s circular.”

Emma remembered seeing something before Henry had tucked it away. “How could it burn you?”

Regina shook her head, frowning. “I have no idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's still raining means new chapter. Emma and Regina's magical duel is absolutely stolen from _wuxia_ films, which I adore. 
> 
> I know Henry's been a little intense, but I keep thinking of the kid who wanted to blow up magic with dynamite. I think FTL for him would be all swords and very little sorcery.


	10. Chapter 10

Gold hadn’t wasted any time redecorating his room. It was dark, perhaps it had been so before, but cloth hung from all the walls, even surrounding the window, covering up the wood. Within the black cave of a room, he had gotten rid of the bed. Maybe he didn’t need to sleep. In its place he had thin tables, barrels covered in boards, and tiny glass vials, jars, and things in racks and stones. Pieces of jade and gold, bits of silver: they’d been in port days and he’d made himself a lair.

Emma didn’t like bringing Regina in there. Clothing felt like little protection and though Gold wasn’t hostile, she could feel the power of the Dark One, as if he radiated it all around him. 

“What seems to be the trouble, your majesty?” 

Emma wasn’t sure whom the question was directed towards. Her instinct said to defer to Regina, to whom the title always belonged, but Gold’s dark eyes were on her. 

“Something burned Regina.”

“I don’t usually handle cooking accidents.”

Regina fixed him with a look of scorn. “Something magic.” 

She’d put on her skirt and her robe so she could open the fabric to show him without being too exposed. Emma still wanted to protect her. She’d known Gold for two years and he was always kind of creepy but now, something about him made her skin crawl. Maybe she was finally more attuned to magic.

His fingers were near Regina’s skin and Emma had to grab her, touch her, do something. She put her hand on the small of Regina’s back and made that be enough.

“Now that is more my speciality,” he said, eyeing the burn. In the time it had taken them to change clothes it had already shifted from bright red to a bruised kind of purple. He reached for it. “May I?”

“You have my permission.”

He went for it as if his fingers were the legs of a tarantula. They lit gold, feeling out the magic in the burn. 

Maybe it was the way Regina twitched, the small tremor that went up her spine or something, but Emma knew, almost the same moment she did. She looked around Gold’s room, saw the big empty bowl and grabbed it. She got it in front of her right before Regina threw up.

Perhaps they were doing the annoying psychic couple thing already or magic had warned her somehow, but Emma’s timing was right and Regina’s aim was pretty good, considering. She’d been fine, completely fine when they were out practicing magic and now her nausea was back with a vengeance. Emma held her hair back this time, murmuring sympathetic nonsense as Regina’s stomach rebelled. 

Gold hadn’t bounced back. He still stood next to them, watching without disgust or any kind of normal reaction to watching someone vomit. 

“Good reflexes,” he said to Emma, vanishing the bowl and the mess within away. 

Regina stumbled and Emma caught her, guiding her down to the deck again. “Do you have any water? What’s going on?”

“You should get the water, dear,” he said. “I doubt my bringing it will be any help.”

Emma tried not to focus on the sweat on Regina’s suddenly pale skin, and instead pictured the barrel of drinking water in the kitchen. She took a wooden cup from the box in the galley, filled it and brought it to them with a puff of blue. 

“You would have been faster.”

Gold shrugged, his hands on his cane. “If I did it, I would have needed to bring back the bowl.”

Thinking about how she should have brought a cloth made one appear and Emma wiped Regina’s face. Patting off the sweat, then cleaning her lips. “Here.”

Regina drank half a sip, her face contorting, and she spat it back into the cloth in Emma's hand.

“It’s okay,” Emma said, trying to stop her from apologising. “I’m washable. Spit up anything you want.”

There was amusement in Regina’s eyes, along with discomfort, and she kept the next sip down. 

“What is so interesting?” she demanded Gold, staring up at him.

He knew something, but his smile was more impressed than victorious.

“The burn was caused by magic. Dark magic as you suspected.”

“Henry,” Regina said, starting to stand up until Emma stopped her.

“Wait.”

Gold agreed with Emma. “He’s fine at the moment.”

“Why did it make her so sick? She barely even touched it.” Emma asked, her hand still on Regina’s shoulder. 

“Why indeed?” Gold said. He set down his cane and moved to the far end of the table, almost as far as he could get from Regina in the tiny room. He drew a ball of, well, darkness into his hand and it twirled there, purple and brown, stinking like rot and dried blood. He moved toward them slowly, limping on his bad leg.

The closer he got, the more Regina tensed until Emma had to grab her face. Magic flowed out of Emma’s hands, right into her, keeping Regina’s eyes from rolling back into her head. 

“Stop,” Emma begged.

The darkness disappeared and the room seemed warmer. The lanterns shone brighter than they had a moment ago. 

“I’m sensitive to dark magic.” Regina’s voice had been worn ragged. “Me?”

“Do you want me to test you again?”

Emma put herself between them. “No. Please.” 

“Do you want to explain it to her, or should I?” Gold said, standing above them, his hands on his cane. 

Regina covered Emma’s hand with one of hers. “I understand. It’s okay. I’m all right.”

“You nearly passed out on me.”

“Gold conjured pure darkness to test his theory. It was intense, but effective.” Regina coughed, wincing. “Could you bring more water?”

It was easier this time. Emma already had where it was in her mind and it took much less effort to go through the motion of filling the cup. Regina drank it and swallowed this time, improving but staying on the floor. 

“Regina has developed an extreme sensitivity to dark magic,” Gold explained when he thought Emma was paying enough attention. “I imagine it’s due to her being pregnant with a child conceived through magical means.”

“But she used to cast dark things all the time.”

“I imagine her ability to do so now will be absent, and if not, it will have unpleasant consequences.” He crouched next to them. “I apologise for this afternoon. It appears your illness was indeed my fault.”

“I thought it was the smell,” Emma said. 

“It was,” Regina answered. “And what was behind the smell.”

“I’ve been trying to spy on the Enchanted Forest through magical means. My powers are, quite literally, dark. So they are strongest when I approach them from that angle.”

“With that much dark magic on the ship, my system couldn’t handle it.” Regina finished her water and held out the cup so Emma could refill it. This time she didn’t even need to picture the barrel of water, it just came where she wanted it. 

“How is that possible?”

“You created a child from nothing but your combined will and you want to know how magically induced morning sickness is possible?” Gold smiled at Emma the way he did when he was actually impressed. “From what I understand of the condition. Morning sickness often has triggers. One of Regina’s is dark magic. The smell of it makes her sick and the touch of it burns her skin.”

“Because of our baby?”

“In a manner of speaking. You do understand that pregnancy requires an enormous amount of physical adjustment. The pregnancy of a woman as powerful as Regina demands magical adjustments as well.”

Emma snapped her fingers. “I told you your magic was turning lilac.”

Regina patted her arm, slowly nodding. “You were right, dear.”

“Her magic’s been changing colour.”

“That’d be the baby.” Gold inclined his head towards Regina, then returned to his feet. “Stay away from dark magic. I’ll ward my room and try to be more cautious in the spells I invoke.”

“But the amulet,” Emma remembered. “Is it safe for Henry? Can Regina be around it?”

“It allows Henry to be merfolk in the sea, human on land?”

Emma nodded, helping Regina stand when she started to move towards her feet. She was mostly stable, but Emma still wanted to hug her and whisk her away. 

“Fixed transformation amulets can be constructed from all kinds of magic. Henry’s could have been made by a powerful dark entity, centuries ago, or quite recently. The magic used to make it is still inside of it, and that’s what Regina reacted to. You’ll be able to heal the burn, Miss Swan. Obviously, I cannot.”

Slipping her hand inside Regina’s clothing, Emma healed it easily, chasing the imprint away. Regina held her hand against her stomach, thanking her. 

“So it’s not dangerous to Henry?”

“Most likely no more so than you using one of my trinkets. It was made by me, and would still contain some of my essence, but Henry’s no more sensitive to it than you would be, Miss Swan.” He turned to Regina. “You, however, should try to avoid any contact with it. Your reactions may increase in intensity with frequent exposure.”

“Thank you,” Emma said. “Sorry about the bowl.”

“I appreciate your reflexes, dearie. Much easier than cleaning the floor.”

“That’s why Emma put so much energy into me, before, didn’t she?” Regina asked, releasing her grip on the table as her legs steadied beneath her. 

“I imagine after the initial conception, Emma’s energy reacted to ensure it ‘stuck’, so to speak.”

Emma turned to Regina, wishing she could kiss her. “I did it when I saved you.”

“You must have overestimated how much energy you needed and in your exuberance, went entirely overboard, which sounds like something you’d do.” Regina’s voice, soft with gratitude, melted the knot in Emma’s stomach.

“I’m sorry.”

“Next time I would like to perhaps discuss the prospect before we conceive--“ Regina let the thought hang unfinished.

The idea of a next time rattled through Emma’s thoughts like a cannonball. 

“Using Emma as a buffer helps your symptoms because she’s a source of pure love magic, as sickeningly sweet as that sounds.”

Emma shook her head at both of them. “I get it, I’m cotton candy and rainbows, so I can counteract dark, not my fault.”

“It certainly explains your affinity for things composed of sugar.”

“Hey, I haven’t had any junk at all in this world.”

“Other than rat on a stick.”

“It was sheep!”

Gold tapped his cane on the deck. “If there’s anything else?”

“No. Thank you. Sorry for barging in.”

“It’s no trouble. I’m-“ he turned from them, still speaking, “-glad my grandson will have a playmate.”

Sensing dismissal, they left. 

“Do you think he’ll really ward his room?”

Regina smiled, her lips soft and her eyes gentle. “Unless he wants to deal with both Charming women in a less than charming mood, I think he’ll stick to his word.”

“You like that my mom defended you.” Emma realised, stopping Regina next in the tiny corridor. 

“Shouldn’t I?”

“Well yeah, I mean, but she’s--“

“My arch-nemesis that I have promised to destroy a thousand times over?”

“Yeah.”

Regina shrugged, then lifted kissed Emma’s hand to kiss it. “She’s nearly my mother-in-law. I’ve heard that’s a fairly normal way for the relationship to go.”

Emma would have kissed her, with all of her exuberant affection, but Regina stopped her with a finger. 

“I just--“

“Right.”

Tracing Emma’s lips with her finger, Regina’s smile warmed. “Though I love that you didn’t even flinch.”

“Bodily fluids kind of come with the parenting thing, right?”

Regina’s chuckle suggested Emma had no idea how right she was.

* * *

Henry left the carrot he had been cutting and went immediately to his mothers as soon as they came into the galley. They’d taken their time, sitting in one of the hammocks together until Regina felt halfway normal and she’d properly washed out her mouth. She’d gone through twenty-eight years of curse without so much as a cold, and now even walking around the tiny ship she lived on was hazardous to her health. 

He’d hugged her and Emma had kept her hand on Regina’s back the whole time, hiding the blue. 

He must have heard it. “You’re using magic.” It was always an accusation from him.

Snow and Charming turned from the stove, Hook looked up from his maps and then she had a full audience. 

“If Emma didn’t, your amulet would make me sick again.” Regina pointed at Henry’s chest. “Mr. Gold thinks-“

Emma cleared her throat.

“-And we agree, that my condition has made me sensitive to certain kinds of magical energy.”

“So you’re going to stop using magic?” Henry looked like he’d been promised Christmas.

“Certain types of magic make me very ill.”

“So magic is like perfume?” Snow asked.

“Yes,” Emma answered. Then they shared one of those looks that seemed to share a secret knowledge of being pregnant Regina hadn’t tapped into yet. “But only a few kinds.”

“What kinds?” Henry looked from Emma to Regina and seemed to decide she was the softer target.

“Dark magic.”

“My amulet’s not dark. It’s not a curse, it was a gift.”

“Magical objects take on part of who makes them, kid.” Emma sat down at the table and guided Regina down next to her. “If I made something it would have part of me in it.”

“So whoever made my amulet used dark magic?“

“But that doesn’t mean the amulet is dark,” Emma assured him. “Mr. Gold’s helped us lots of time with tracking spells, and just because they’re from him doesn’t mean those spells are evil.”

Henry’s hand covered his amulet, but he made no move to take it off. He backed a step away from Regina and that stung almost as much as it had before, even though he was trying to protect her. 

“Sorry.” 

“It’s all right Henry, you had no way of knowing.” 

“So, if you stay away from dark magic, you won’t be sick?”

Everyone but Hook and Henry had a sympathetic look for Regina and she sighed. “Though this baby came from magic, I’m afraid having it is a very physical process. I might be sick again because my body is trying to make sense of what’s happening to me, or because of magic. It’s hard to know for sure.” 

“Why is this so complicated?”

Emma put an arm around Henry’s shoulders. “Making a person is a big thing. When my body was trying to make you all kinds of weird stuff happened to me.”

“Yeah?”

“All kinds.”

“So it’s okay?”

Regina patted his hand, trying not to look at his chest and the mysterious amulet. “It’s okay.” 

“Do you want dinner then? My grandparents are trying to teach me to make shepherd’s pie.” 

“We’re succeeding,” Snow promised. 

“What knife are you letting him use?” 

Henry finally smiled. “The biggest one.” 

Regina glared his disapproval at his grandparents. “Really?”

“It’s very effective,” David said, handing the knife over to her. “It has a great weight to it.”

“It’s far too big for his hands.”

“He needs to practice. Carrots will not be his only foe.”

* * *

They moved on in the morning, slipping through the ships of Qin with ease. The trader's flag made them no more important than any of the other vessels along the busy coastline. Hook had his eye on another city, another trading port a hair on the map closer to home. They still didn’t know what was there. Gold had been scrying, his room now well protected, but all he saw of the Enchanted Forest were trees. He saw no ogres, but also none of their people. He thought the forest might have returned to how it had once been, before the ogres. 

The next city was much larger, defended by ships of the Emperor’s navy and rather than risk drawing attention, they passed it by. 

Henry took to wearing his amulet on his back, putting his body between it and Regina when he hugged her. He refused to remove it, protesting it had been a gift and Ariel was the first friend he’d had who knew all his secrets. Neither of his mothers wanted to take that from him, so most days it went unremarked that he still wore it. 

They landed at the smaller ports as they went, collecting things that made Hook's ship more of a home. Regina decorated their little room. The cloth over the walls was white, accented with deeper red and different than anything she'd had at Mifflin Street, but it felt like her, so Emma liked it. It was warm, rich with colour and it neatly matched the red and black bedding. They'd wandered that part of the market so long that Emma was starting to forget she could read anything but the characters of Qin, but they found what she wanted. Emma had even learned to negotiate a little, walking away when she didn't get a price she wanted. 

Not that it mattered, really. Gold spun straw into his namesake and they were always able to trade that for bags of coins. Hook even joked that he had more plunder for less work than he had ever accumulated in his days as a pirate. Henry trained with the boy until he hit the target with most of his arrows and Snow moved it back. David and Hook fought with swords, against each other and learning from each other. When anyone needed a real challenge, they fought Emma or Regina, and sometimes they worked as a team, which made it truly difficult. 

Emma sat on the deck and watched Regina take on the combined assault of Hook, David, Snow and Henry, dodging arrows when she didn't catch them out of the air, calling up her own lilac version of Emma's protective orb to stop their swords. She was glorious in a way Emma hadn't been able to enjoy when they were opposed to each other. Yes, the Evil Queen had been terrible, but Regina in her full glory was awe inspiring. Magic lit her skin from within and as she deterred their attacks, she glowed. 

She still needed to work on the physical side of dodging. She’d been the queen so long that most of the time, she didn’t even dodge, just went to full offensive mode to lay waste to her attackers. Which was awkward if any of them managed to get through or stood up to her assault. More pressing of a problem was that Regina couldn't cast fireballs. Throwing water was been one thing and her aim was true, but she didn’t have the greatest offensive spell in her arsenal. 

At first they fizzled when she tried to cast them, like fireworks left too long in the rain. When she pushed through that, tossing the brute force of her natural ability behind them, she’d made herself very ill. Emma had overreacted as well, throwing so much of her energy into Regina to help that she’d ended up being the one who spent the afternoon retching. In a way, she was grateful she could give Regina the day off, because even if they avoided the dark, Regina still spent many mornings and the occasional afternoon curled up in bed. 

Emma felt even more guilty about that because she was in better health than she’d probably been in Storybrooke. Here she had fresh air, more vegetables and fruit than she’d ever been forced to eat before, and nonstop exercise.

After that, they'd been more careful. Emma cast her own fire from love, because now, with her family all around her, that was a boundless reservoir for her. She wasn’t as good. Trying to hurt or even kill another being, even one attacking her, with her own force of will instead of a gun or a sword was a mindfuck. Emma could do it, but even in practice, she was unsure. The shields Regina conjured for her to take down were so far impenetrable. Regina promised she’d get it, being so patient and supportive Emma only had to look at her to feel better.

She couldn’t be as helpful in return. Regina had learned to draw on hatred, bloodlust and anguish; none of them were effective in her current state without dizziness, nausea, and worse. She’d been training defensively, practicing her footwork with David as if it were a dance. 

Still, if shadows came for them, they were short on ways to deter them.

It was driving Emma crazy. Fire wasn't evil. The act of summoning it had no more moral leanings than striking a match, but magic was more complex than that. Emma had poured over the books they had until she was partially convinced the characters were crawling onto her fingers and that she no longer needed to cast the translation spell before she knew what they said. 

Sick of magic school, she'd been letting her mind wander, lazily floating a ball of water around the mast in a rising spiral, when it hit her.

Running down to the galley where Regina and Snow were trying to decide on their list of foodstuffs for the market, Emma interrupted. 

"I'll be your incentive.” 

“Incentive?”

"I know how to get your fireballs back."

Her mother was less than pleased. "Emma the last time you tried this--"

"I was fine."

Regina shook her head. "You weren't."

"When you say you're fine, I believe you. The least you could do is believe me. I felt exactly how you did and I was fine." 

"You're not me." Regina set down her quill, resting her hands on the smooth wood of the table. 

"So your capacity to tolerate feeling like hell warmed over is greater than mine?"

"I didn't say that." 

Except she had, in the set of her shoulders. Emma glared over the table, trying not to notice how much effort it took her mother not to laugh. “I’m never going to take ‘I’m fine’ from you again.”

"Emma--"

She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m going to hover.”

"What's your plan, Emma?" Snow interjected before Regina could escalate the situation. 

"If I was in danger, I bet Regina could cast a fireball."

Snow dropped her quill on the table. "That is a terrible way to prove a theory."

"I agree with your mother."

"That's how bad an idea it is. Regina and I agree!" Snow pointed at Regina and together they stared Emma down. Emma didn’t point out that they’d kind of been getting along. They had even cooked together, twice and not only had the galley survived, but the food had been excellent.

"Look, a fireball is one of the best offensive spells we have. Mine work but they're not nearly as good as Regina's were, are. I can throw water like I have firehoses behind me, but it doesn't have the same punch. What if we get attacked by other pirates? Seamonsters? Shadow dragons from the mountains? We don’t even know what’s going to be around the next turn of the coastline, let alone what we’re going to face when we’re out of Qin. There's more than half the world map between us and home, how do we cross that without firepower?" Emma winced a little at her accidental pun. Snow was starting to weaken, she could see it in her face.

"I'm not suggesting anything insane. Just that maybe if you, Mom, shot some arrows at me and Regina had to stop them, I bet she could do it."

"I can't shoot at you, Emma."

“I can stop arrows without a fireball.”

“From the stern if I’m in the bow? Or if I’m in the rowboat? I’ve seen you grab them out of the air but that’s when they’re pointed at you, not me. If they’re out of reach, you’ll stop them. I trust you. I trust both of you. Besides, Gold can heal an arrow wound.”

“This is a ridiculous idea-“

“Gold won’t just heal you when you’ve put yourself in danger-“

“The saviour has a point,” Mr. Gold interrupted Regina and Snow’s mutual protest. “Regina is one of our best offensive weapons. Yes, Emma can cast a fireball, but two cannons are better than one. Unless we want to learn to use the iron and gunpowder within this vessel, we’ll need both of them.”

“So you’ll heal me?”

Gold inclined his head. “Of course.”

“See? I’ll be healed. As long as you don’t hit me in the eye or something--“

“Emma, I can’t. I really can’t.”

Filling his cup with water, Gold rested his hand on the table. “I’d offer to help, but my services in close proximity to Regina would not end positively.”

“Mom, you’re a very good shot, I’ve seen you hit ogres in the eye, and Regina, I trust you with my life. If that doesn’t make you want to save me, I don’t know what will.”

“I’ll help, if your mother will not,” Hook offered from the darkness behind Gold in the narrow corridor. “I’m nowhere near the shot you are, princess, but if it’ll help my ship to remain my ship in the event of an attack, I’m all for it.” 

Even less pleased with that idea, Regina’s gaze towards Emma developed into a glare. “I will not be coerced into your foolhardy plan because you’ve rather unwisely decided to put your fate in the hand of this pirate.” 

The united front of Regina and her mother was touching, if a little frustrating. 

Emma shrugged. “No problem. Hook and I are just going up to do a little target practice without you.”

Hook replaced the apple he’d come to the galley for and pointed the way for Emma. “After you, my lady target.”

In the time Hook used to string his bow, Regina and Snow were up on the deck, watching with displeasure. They’d even recruited her father, so he could add his disapproval. Henry was down with the merfolk again, which was why she had to do it now. Emma couldn’t risk him watching her be a stubborn idiot, but they needed Regina. Hook had tried to teach them the cannons, but magic was more accurate, needed no reloading and was significantly more frightening to attackers than cannons.

Emma secured the rowboat and held her hands behind her back so Hook could tie them. It was possible that she could cast something to protect herself, but she wasn’t going to. She had faith.

“Would you like a blindfold and an apple on your head?” Hook asked. Securing the ropes, he patted Emma with his hook. “If you lose a hand, hooks are really quite useful and a stunning fashion accessory.” 

Shoving out the rowboat, he climbed easily back to the deck and headed for the bow as the rowboat drifted. Snow already had it in her hands. He nodded to her and stood back.

Notching an arrow, Snow swung the bow to bear on Emma. With David standing beside her, her hands were steady. Looking at her mother, Emma relaxed, running her fingers over the beads at her wrist. For old wood, they had a great warmth to them and they helped her concentrate. 

Regina stood a few steps behind Snow, her arms still folded tight against her chest. Her eyes threatened to ignite Emma, the boat and her clothing. Gold watched from the rail, both of his hands folded on his cane. He needed something, or maybe he was waiting to see what they could do. 

Emma had been meaning to learn the arrow catch trick anyway. Maybe this would take away her fear of standing in front of a bow. She nodded to her mother, then turned her eyes to her love. 

She’d pay for this in a hundred small ways. Emma could agree that it was wrong to blackmail Regina into this with a threat to her own life, but Regina still didn’t trust her ability to love and protect without reaching for the darkness for strength. Emma worried she never would, not without a push. She hated that she was resorting to the same manoeuvring that been used against Regina before, and Cora had probably said it was out of love too. 

Was it different to trust in Regina’s ability to protect rather than harm? Emma believed with all her heart that it was not that fireballs were innately part of dark magic, rather that Regina had learned them in darkness.

Confessing in whispers when they lay together in the darkness, Regina had told most of the story of her fall from the girl on the horse to the evil queen. Magic and science from another realm had failed to save Daniel and she’d given up. She couldn’t have love, so she waited for revenge, letting it ferment in her soul as her days grew darker and her life dimmed. If she hadn’t hated Snow so deeply, perhaps they could have saved each other from the coldness that held them both within the stone walls of Snow's father's castle. 

That was over. The evil queen was far kinder and more loving than anyone had ever allowed her to be, if Emma had to take an arrow to prove it, so be it. Her faith put her of the same opinion as Rumplestiltskin, which was always an odd place to be, but it was necessary. Regina had taught Emma everything she knew about the fireball spell, but Emma had none of the power Regina displayed and now Regina would not cast it. 

Emma was too far from the deck to hear the twang of the string, but the whistle of the arrow coming for her sliced through Emma’s thoughts. Instinct told her to duck, but she forced it away. Ducking would ruin her mother’s shot.

The arrow met Emma as a rain of charcoal as lilac fire burned it to a crisp. Snow fired several more times in quick succession, making sure it had not been a fluke occurrence. Emma had to be impressed with that kind of ruthless efficiency. No wonder Snow had survived so long alone in the woods. 

Fire destroyed the arrows even further from Emma that time, letting shards fall into the sea. The fireballs that destroyed them had a magenta tint, but were certainly effective. Emma began to teleport herself back, which was hard without being able to use the motion of her hands to focus. Regina did it first, grabbing Emma’s shoulders almost before she reappeared.

“You are the most infuriatingly idiotic woman I have ever met. What if I missed? Or your mother was a better shot than you counted on? Or something got in the way?”

Emma bit her lip trying not to, but then laughed anyway. “Now this is the kind of anger you can use to throw fireballs.”

Regina dropped her hands to her sides and fire erupted from both of her palms, throwing heat. “You’re going to be smug?” 

“This isn’t smug. This is relieved.” Emma hugged her above the fire, leaning in close so only Regina heard her. “Smug is when I point out that Snow trusted you enough to aim for my chest.”

The twin flames in Regina’s hands fizzled. She broke Emma’s embrace, turning to look at Emma’s parents for a long time in silence. 

“Well,” Gold began, taking advantage of the quiet. “Now that we’ve proved we have the firepower, I have something I need and you two, ladies periwinkle and lilac, are going to get it for me.”

* * *

Ursula’s pet eels let Henry in. They were kind of creepy with their glowing eyes, but Flotsam and Jetsam weren’t really more dangerous than the eels Henry and Ariel played with all the time. They circled him in the water, turning over each other as if they were playing. 

She was in her watching room, staring at the glass globe that let her watch all of the world. She said she was lonely and all her brother had left her with as the means to watch everyone else’s happiness. Her banishment kept her from most of her family and watching them was all she’d had left. He felt bad for her. Being away from the people she loved was what had happened to his mom, a little bit at a time. Magic did that. It took people away from the people they loved.

Would this happen to his mom someday? Would she fall back into darkness, failing to live up to what he wanted her to be? She’d already failed. She’d said it herself. She’d redeemed herself by being a hero, by being willing to die to stop the curse from killing everyone. What if there wasn’t a way for her to be a hero the next time?

“Hello, darling boy. Swim in, swim in. What can I do for you?” Ursula moved one of her tentacles off a chair and waved him over. “I was just watching my nieces. They’re so happy, aren’t they?” 

He looked at them in the globe and nodded. “They do look happy.”

“What’s troubling you? I can see concern all over your face.” 

He pulled the amulet out of his shirt. “It burned my mom.”

“Oh sweet boy, come here.” Ursula pulled him close with a tentacle behind his back. “Let me see.”

“She said it made her sick because it was made of dark magic.”

“Not made of dark magic, made by someone who used dark magic. It’s very old. Perhaps constructed by someone with dark intent but now, now it’s just a thing. If you don’t want it I can take it back--“

“No, no. I want it. It’s the only thing that makes me happy. All my moms want to do is use magic. Emma doesn’t even practice with swords anymore. She used to, with her dad, but now she just watches them and uses magic.”

“Magic has an allure few could resist. Why fight someone off with a strip of steel when you can poof them away?” Ursula flexed her fingers, like she missed being able to do anything with them. “It feels like the best thing in the world when you’re using it. You’re powerful and all of you tingles and it’s just wonderful. Then when you’re not using it you wilt. You feel like you’re about to slip away.” She sagged against her chair. “Without it, you’re nothing, a shell of who you used to be.”

He starred down at the sandy floor of Ursula’s cave. She was right. Emma and Regina had been so happy using magic. What if it got worse? What if they just couldn’t stop? He didn’t think what his mom said about practicing was really going to work. Practicing wasn’t like the real thing. They’d never be happy without it. Not if it had enough time to become part of them. No one believed him. No one else understood how dangerous it was or maybe no one else cared. His grandparents had been happy too. They seemed to have forgotten that magic ruined people’s lives. 

“So it’s true, they won’t be able to stop?”

“I couldn’t, darling, and I’m the daughter of a king of the sea. My own brother had to banish me and it half-killed him to do it. Know how he doesn’t smile? That was me, I’m afraid. He used to be quite the cheery king, until he had to send me away. He was right to do it. I couldn’t be trusted. I liked using magic so much I put my nieces in danger just to have reasons to save them with magic. Maybe if you’re lucky, you won’t be the one who has to banish them.” 

He shook his head. “No, I can’t do that. You have to help me. Please, help me. They’re using more magic all the time. My mom doesn’t even talk about stopping any more and Emma, she keeps using more. It’s only a manner of time before someone gets hurt.”

“I don’t know how I can help you, darling boy. It takes magic to deal with magic and I don’t have any of that around here.” Ursula pulled him close, hugging him with her soft arms. “I wish I could. You’ll have to stop them before they get in too deep, like I did. Maybe that man can help you, the darkling--”

“The Dark One, and he won’t help me. He likes magic more than anyone.” He was trapped. He was going to lose both of his mothers if he didn’t do something. 

On the shelf across the room, a conch shell glowed weakly. She’d talked about it before. The shell was a magical vessel. One that held all of her magic. She had to keep it, to remind her of what she’d been.

“Your shell!” He swam over to the other side of the room. “This holds all of your magic.”

One of Ursula’s tentacles grabbed the shell and held it up. “It does. A reminder of how much I risked to keep using magic and how much I hurt my family. So I have to look at it every day and know what I lost.”

“Are there any more? Where did it come from?” 

“It came from the abyss dear. The darkest part of the sea. It’s too dangerous. You can’t go there. Only the king of the sea can.”

“No.” He’d been so close. He could have used shells like that to save his moms before they went too far to come back.

Ursula patted him in sympathy. “I’m so sorry. It was a good idea. It would be the perfect solution to your problem. If only there was some way--“

“I can help,” Ariel said, swimming in with a huge smile, a shell in each hand. “I got them, Ursula. I got them. They were in my father’s room, just where you said they’d be. He has a whole chest of them, but I just brought two.”

Taking them from Ariel’s hands, Ursula smiled. “Oh, my darling girl, how fabulous.” She took the shells and handed them to Henry with great care. “These will solve all of your problems.” 

“It won’t hurt them, will it?” He didn’t want to hurt them. This would help, take the magic away so that they'd never be locked up.

“Not at all,” Ursula promised. Her eels drew in and she stroked them. “They won’t feel a thing.” 

Henry cradled the shells to his chest. This was the way free. They’d see it. They’d have to.

Ursula leaned in close, drawing him and Ariel near. “I’ll even let you in on a little secret that I’ve seen in my globe. Shadows are coming from the sea, the day after tomorrow, and if you use these before then, they’ll both see how strong they are without magic. They’ll fight the shadows off with swords and arrows, just like heroes are supposed to do and when you tell them, someday, I bet they’ll thank you for saving them from a fate like mine.”

She had to be right. She knew what it was like to be eaten alive by magic and lose everyone. He wouldn’t let that happen, not to his mothers.They’d see. They’d finally understand. The shadows sounded kind of scary but they’d be able to fight them off. They always had before. They were the heroes, and not because of magic. When he used the shells, they'd see that. They'd have to.

* * *

Snow and David arrived from shore early in the morning with three men helping carry their purchases. The porters used long bamboo poles over their shoulders and dropped their goods to the dock. Snow paid them and David tied the bundles to be hauled aboard. 

Emma had been confident enough in her translation charm to cast it on both of her parents, at once. Other than a slightly annoying tendency to speak to each other in the language of Qin, mostly flirting when no one understood them, it had been fine. They’d be dying to find leatherworkers and blacksmiths. Not having the armour and weapons they were accustomed too had made them nervous, so their order had been significant. 

They’d kept many crafters busy and substantially increased the income of this little port town, but judging from the many bundles of goods, they’d been successful. Regina sat at Emma’s side on the deck, listening to her parents recount the news from shore. 

Terrible storms were rumoured in the east. The large city they’d thought too big to risk visiting had been hard hit by some kind of disaster. Nearly all of the vessels they’d passed had been destroyed. 

“I don’t know if it was just a translation issue, Emma, but everyone on land kept calling it a ‘storm of shadows’ apparently there have been several incidences in the east.”

“I cast it the best I can. Maybe that means a thunderstorm?”

“Or a typhoon,” David said. “The kind of destruction they were talking about sounded brutal. We should be careful.”

Gold tapped his cane on the deck. Emma was convinced he looked more like a kung fu villain they longer they stayed in Qin. “I have numerous weather wards around this vessel. None of them predict anything more dangerous than more drenching rain. Why we’re sailing through monsoon season is a question for the ages.”

Regina yawned, resting her head on Emma’s shoulder and only half following the conversation. She’d already fallen asleep reading on deck yesterday, then fallen asleep again while she’d been peeling potatoes for breakfast. Emma had finished preparing them for her and sent her to sleep until the food was ready, but she was still tired. She blamed Emma, but Emma only said sweet things when she did that. 

“What if it’s not weather?” Emma asked. “We were all worried about shadows. Most of us have had nightmares about them.”

“One meeting with Pan is enough to give anyone nightmares,” David said. Unwrapping the cloth from the bundles, he started sorting things out. 

“We have things for everyone.” Snow waved them all closer. “Even you, Henry.”

The child had been quiet ever since Regina had woken up with him in their room, staring at her while she slept. She’d thought he’d had something in his hands, but she hadn’t been sure. He’d said that he’d been worried about her then he climbed into bed with her, talking about their long journey and how it was worthy of being a story. She’d humoured him, it was nice to have the company, but it had been so odd to find him in their room. 

He was still on edge about magic and perhaps they’d have to take more caution to keep Emma’s training out of sight. There was no real point in hiding it though, both of his mothers had magic and magic was part of this world. There was magic living in the streets of Qin where fortune tellers promised to tell your life story with their sticks and magic went into the creation of all of the fireworks Henry loved so much. 

Maybe he just needed more time. Sometimes she didn’t know who he was, this little person with such a fanatic hatred of magic. She’d only held him prisoner once and immediately regretted it. That couldn’t have done any long term damage. Could it?

She must have been frowning because Emma brought her hand to her lips and kissed it, as if to promise everything was all right, no matter how concerned Regina was. 

Snow dragged over to piles of leather armour and set one in front of each of them. “We choose these for you. I did most of the design ideas, so if you hate them, blame me.” 

“Which is which?”

“It should be easily enough to figure out.”

Emma leaned close to whisper that she hoped Regina’s had space for her cleavage.

“As if your mother would worry about that--“ she replied. Lifting one leather tunic, Regina was pleased. Qin armour was designed to be light and flexible, and panels of leather covered metal were bound together with more leather and bamboo. Hers was a deep red, with horizontal stripes of black along the individual plates. It fit snug to her chest, (very snug considering her swollen breasts) followed her waist then flared at the hips into a skirt that went down to her thighs. There were separate pieces of armour for her arms and legs, leather boots that went underneath and a helmet that looked just like the others, except in Regina’s colours. 

Emma’s was a deep blue, with the occasional brass accent. Hers was less ostentatious, and it fit well. Snow knew her daughter. Snow’s was pale tan, with parts of it white and David’s was mostly black with some bright red. Hook had refused armour and Gold said he had no need of it, so the four of them would be the matching team of soldiers. 

They’d even gotten a smaller set, all leather so it would fit more comfortably, for Henry, and he was thrilled to have his first suit of armour, even if he kept calling it his samurai suit. Emma pointed out that was not the right country at all, and he’d have to learn another word for it. 

It had been years since she’d worn armour and rarely had Regina excepted hers to be function. She was usually well back from the fighting unless she was fighting with magic, then no one had really been able to stand before her. 

Emma stripped down to her tunic and pulled her chestpiece over the top. With her blonde hair in a long braid down the back, she looked like she’d just walked out of a costume party, although the sword at her waist was deadly. 

Snow handed Regina two daggers, a small knife and a short, light sword. “Just in case. I wasn’t sure what you’d used before, but you really can’t have too many daggers.”

“Thank you.” Regina studied her armour and found places in the legs to hide daggers, a place in the chestpiece for the knife and realised Snow had put careful thought into it. “They’re very nice.”

“I feel like Xena,” Emma said, swinging her sword. “And none of you understand how cool that is.”

“I do,” David volunteered. “I watched a lot of TV in the hospital.”

“Thanks dad.” 

Gold studied Emma and her sword thoughtfully. “Now that you have your attire, perhaps you’ll consider my quest.”

Emma sat down again next to Regina, still in her new armour. It creaked and smelt of newly formed leather. “Ride into the mountains above the sea, defeat the guardian of the magic grass and nab a bunch of it so you can scry our land properly. What do you think, dear?”

Regina resisted the urge to smack Emma’s armour, just to test it. “You’re the one who was concerned about riding.”

“If you’re confident you can get me up to speed. We probably don’t want to take days to get there while I figure out how to giddyup.”

“We could always ride double if you’re that terrible.”

Emma contemplated many responses to that, most of them indecent, and finally just grinned at her. “There’s an idea.”

“Wait,” Henry asked. “How long will you be gone?”

“Just the morning, kid. It’s a ride in, grab the grass, ride out, sort of thing.”

“It’s yao grass,” Gold reminded them. “Quite sacred.”

“Respectfully grab the grass,” Emma amended. “I’m up for it if you are.” 

Fighting and losing to the impulse to yawn, Regina nodded. “If we leave shortly, we can be back before the afternoon.”

“You don’t need another nap first?”

Regina tapped Emma’s armour with her new dagger. “Watch it, saviour.”

Emma shrugged. “Mom, show me how the boots go, would you?”

After Regina slipped below deck to empty her continually full bladder, Snow and David were their squires, helping them into their armour. Regina wasn’t sure they’d need all of it if the mission was as simple as Gold said, but nothing ever was as he said it was, so the better prepared they were, the better off they’d be. 

Strapping on her sword, Emma slipped her helmet over her head. “I feel like a turtle.”

“What until you try plate armour,” David said, shaking his head. “You’re like a baked turtle wrapped in foil. It’s hot, you can’t move and if you fall over you’d better have someone to help you get up.”

As far as armour went, this was less confining than most Regina had worn, and she had no corset, which was a blessing. Perhaps they would finally slip out of fashion now that everyone had seen how pleasant life was without them. Even if they were beautiful. 

David brought them water and Snow made sure they had more than enough food to get lost in the woods for several days.

“It’s a sacred mountain. There’s a trail, isn’t there?” Emma asked, looking over the preparations with concern.

Snow tightened the straps on Regina’s arm. “There’s a trail and a map, apparently it’s a well known sacred site.”

“There’s just the guardian to worry about,” David said, looking at Gold with only mildly veiled suspicion.

“And this is why we have armour now,” Emma said. She stretched, checking her range of motion. Having the arms and legs and separate pieces really did help made it easier to move and Regina had found she could move fairly well. 

Snow tucked her daggers away into Regina’s boots, then gave her another one. “Just in case.”

Emma looked from her parents to their son. “We’ll be back before you even miss us.” 

Henry came up and hugged them both. First Emma, then Regina, after he’d fussed with his amulet and hung it away behind his back. He really was out of sorts today. 

“If this is so well known,” Emma said. “Why is there not more about the guardian?”

Gold’s eyes had that wicked light Regina knew as Rumplestiltskin behind them. “Because the trail is worn by those going up, not so much by those coming down.”

“Right.” Emma flexed her hands. “Ready?” 

“It’ll be fine. You’ll like riding. It’s very freeing.”

“Says someone who’s sure she’ll stay on the horse.” Emma shook her head and pointed the way down the gangplank. “After you.”


	11. Chapter 11

As it turned out, Emma could stay on a horse. The saddle and reins helped, as did the fact that she was fairly certain Regina had made sure she received the most pliant horse available. Regina’s was a far more beautiful animal, one who ran as if he’d been born to it. Regina had apparently lost none of her skill and she rode ahead of Emma, scouting the way then flying back to meet her on the climb up the sacred mountain. 

At first the trail was a road, full of other travellers, horses and oxen pulling carts. Then they turned up the mountain and it narrowed, then became a track that was barely a goatpath. The horses followed it well enough, they were well trained, but Emma would have been lost on her own. The sacred mountain was tall and green, with a peak of gold. Apparently there were two types of scared yao grass, one gold and more prominent, full of healing power. The other was pale green, with dark stems and white flowers. It was used for mental clarity and cutting through restrictions. Gold said it would help him focus on the Enchanted Forest and see what was truly going on there. 

They all wanted to know what was going on there, what they were all going back to, but there was still a guardian to deal with. 

They’d had little time to talk. Regina wanted to be up the mountain as efficiently as possible. They could always teleport back to the ship if they needed to, letting the horses return themselves, but there was no way they could teleport to a place they hadn’t been. They spoke when they stopped to stretch and Regina was in such a good mood from the ride that she’d been breathless and thrilled each time they paused. 

Emma felt better knowing the fireball problem had been solved, but they were still facing down a terrible guardian and Gold had a track record with sending people to fight impossible beasts. 

The trees fell away and the mountain had only grass and the occasional shrub. They were close now because the golden yao grass, the wrong kind for Gold’s spell grew all around them. At first, Emma had thought the path was just rocky, then she realised her poor horse was stepping over skulls and bones. 

“Regina?” 

“I see it. Keep going, take the slack out of the reins in case your horse tries to bolt.”

“If this horse bolts, I’m probably going with her. We’re friends now you see.”

Regina laughed softly and kept on. The ridge rounded out into a plateau, full of many pools of water, nine of them when Emma counted. They were arranged in a neat circle around a central stone sculpture of a great snake, coiled in on itself. The green yao grass, the kind Gold wanted, grew all around the pools.

Halting her horse, Regina dropped to the ground elegantly. Emma all but fell off her own horse, but she was pretty quiet. Regina tied the two horses together, the reins of Emma’s on the saddle of her own. 

“I only see a statue.”

Regina nodded. “That’s what worries me. Guardians are always easier to fight when they’re obvious.”

“Should we go for the grass and then run for it before anything decides to eat us whole?”

“I’ll--“

Emma patted her arm. “I’ll go. You at long distance are much more terrifying than I am.” 

She ran forward, holding her sword so it didn’t clang. Her leather squeaked a little, but was mostly no louder than she would have been. Picking handful and handful of grass, Emma stuffed it into a pouch attached to her sword belt. So far, it wasn’t that bad.

Then she dropped a stray piece of grass into one of the pools and it sputtered, bubbled and vanished into what definitely wasn’t water. The air had an acrid tang to it, a metallic sort of smell. 

She turned back to Regina, trying to mouth that the water was acid. Something behind her shifted. Stone slid against stone and when Emma turned back, the statute of the giant snake was uncoiling.

Scrambling back, Emma was halfway to Regina when the heads of the snake emerged from its coils. It had nine of them, all vaguely human, but green and scaled, with nine pairs of glowing red eyes and nine viciously sharp sets of teeth. Roaring their displeasure at Emma’s theft in unison, they lowered their heads to sniff her with their forked tongues. 

Fire exploded to the right of the heads, singing several of them. The monster split its attention, four heads towards Emma and five towards Regina. 

“Don’t touch the pools! I think they’re acid.”

Regina threw two more fireballs and caught up to Emma just as the horses caught scent of the monster. 

“Levitation spell.” 

“Right.” 

Emma concentrated and drew on the spell. If they could confuse it, maybe they could get it to leave them alone. 

Its incredibly long tail lashed out and wrapped around the hapless horses, squeezing each of them in coils of its body. Regina really let the monster have it for that, throwing so much fire that one of the heads became a blackened stump while the rest of them roared in agony. 

Something glowed in the centre of the many-headed snake’s island. Emma bounced off the earth, soaring high over the creature as Regina rained more fire down on its hissing heads. In a jade bowl sat a huge pearl, nearly the size of a baseball. Emma had listened to enough stories in the towns to know pearls were important. 

“I’m getting the pearl.”

Regina nodded, her lips in a thin line. She floated down to one of the pools of acid, then bounced off again, not allowing the acid to do more than lick her boot. The creature was going to pay for the horses, sacred guardian or not.

Emma bounced twice, using her momentum to launch herself fairly foolishly over the creature. It snapped at her but it obviously was unaccustomed to flying prey. She landed just long enough to wrap the pearl in her left hand, then she took off again.

A coil of serpent slammed her out of the air and only the levitation spell saved her from a dissolving death. Emma hit the surface with one hand, then rolled and pushed off with the other, retreating behind Regina who was making up for lost fireballs by scorching the creature’s scales, leaving a long trail of black ichor on the earth below it. 

“Do we need to kill it? I have the grass.”

The flame in Regina’s eyes wanted it dead, but she shook her head and grabbed Emma. The inky blackness inside of teleporting lasted much longer than it ever had before and both of them were still concentrating so hard on the levitation spell that they bounced off the deck when they came out of the nether. Emma caught Regina’s arm and eased her down so they landed together. 

Henry had been practicing with his wooden sword and got in a cheap blow when Snow turned to watch their arrival. 

“We got it,” Emma said, holding out the pouch of grass. 

“I’ll go get Mr. Gold,” Henry offered, but the Dark One teleported himself up for his prize.

“Well done. And the guardian?”

“Has two less heads than he started with.” Regina tugged off her gloves then waved Snow over for help taking off the rest of her armour. 

“We also grabbed this because it looked important.” Emma held up the pearl to Gold, whose eyes widened. 

“That was not in the book I read. It appears to be a dragon’s pearl.”

“Do we need to hand it over to the emperor or something?” 

“No, these pearls belong to the deified dragons personally. One can apparently tell to which dragon it belongs by the colours in the pearl. This one has shades of blue.”

“And?”

“And I have no idea which dragon that corresponds to. It’s possible the pearl was placed on the sacred mountain by a thief who wanted to keep it safe, or the dragon itself, trying to find a good hiding place. May I?”

Emma handed him the pearl and he threw it to Regina, who caught it in her bare hands. Nothing happened, so Emma didn’t have to hit him. 

“It’s not dark magic.”

Glaring at him, Emma joined her mother on the deck, loosening the straps of Regina’s leg braces. 

“That was an impressive fireworks display.”

“I’m glad you approve.” Regina smiled, then sighed. “I regret losing the horses. They were noble creatures.”

“Their sacrifice will be appreciated because it gets us closer to home,” Gold said, fingering the grass. He crushed it in his hand, squeezing the juice into a small cup her held in his hand. "Forgive the quick exit, but I am needed back home." He grinned at them all. "I'll be in touch." 

He drank and vanished, teleporting away to the Enchanted Forest. 

“This had better be worth it,” Regina muttered. 

"That was it?" David asked. "He sent you to get the grass so he could teleport there, without us?"

"What were you expecting?" Regina said. "Gold to take us all with him? Teleporting one person that far is incredibly dangerous, even with the enhancement of sacred grass. Taking all of us would have been suicide." Shifting her weight back and forth, she waited for Snow and Emma removed the armour from her arms. As soon as they had freed her chest, she nearly wriggled out of her armour, hurrying back below deck to pee, again. 

Snow very quietly smiled at Emma as she picked up the pieces of Regina's armour to clean it. "Did you stop often on your way up the mountain?"

"Not just so Regina could pee, I promise. Once or twice it was me." Emma had to return her grin. "But yeah. Anyway, when we got up there? You should have seen her, Mom. She was incredible."

"Regina has always been very powerful. It's still rather novel to have that power on the same side as me." Snow set Regina's armour down then got to work with Emma's. "I'll show you how to clean it and store it properly, and you may want to offer to take care of Regina's for her, so when her adrenaline wears off--"

"She can have another nap if she needs one. Got it."

“I was just thinking of your evening, dear. If she gets a nap in now, you’ll have much more fun on your date. Besides, this is a part of motherhood I get to do, right now. Getting my daughter ready for her first date.”

Emma smiled at that last comment and undid her left arm. "It was nice to have backup on the mission to kill the monster. Last time it was just me and the dragon. This time, Regina was there to blow the monster to purple smithereens."

"Being able to count on someone you love having your back is a wonderful thing. When your father and I started leading our army together, it felt like we should have never tried to do it apart. That kind of partnership is very special indeed." Snow rested her hand on Emma's arm. "I'm so happy you've found that too."

"So you're over the woman I love being Regina?"

Nodding, Snow peeled the last bit of Emma's armour off her sweaty skin. "I have settled into being happy that the woman you love is Regina, if you must know. I've always wanted to see the good in her again, and it's here, when she's with you, and you're both so happy. Which is wonderful.”

Emma hugged her, sweaty as she was, just because her mom was about to tear up and if Snow went, Emma would too. "I love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart." Snow kept her hands on Emma’s shoulders. “Are you ready for your date then? Your father and I did everything on your list this morning and the boat should be here just before sunset.”

“I’m ready, mom. It’s all planned.”

“Did you tell Regina or are you making it a surprise?”

Emma sighed and picked up all the bits of her armour. “So far it’s a surprise, but I need to give her time to get ready because if I spring it on her right before the boat arrives she is not going to be happy with me.” 

Snow followed her with her arms full of Regina’s armour. “Just tell her to be ready at sunset. That doesn’t give too much away but still gives her time to get ready. It’s courteous.” 

“Thanks Mom.”

Snow brought them to the stern where they spread out all the armour on a sheet. “Oh this is fun, Emma. We’ve never gotten to talk about you dating before.” 

“I haven’t dated since you’ve met me, again, I mean. Technically I still haven’t been on a date.”

Snow started checking the laces and showed Emma how to look for any damage. “But you planned one, and it sounds wonderful. I’m so proud of you.” 

Emma started rubbing the oil into the leather. It smelt kind of good, like herbs or nuts. “Did you and dad ever date?”

“You mean chasing each other through the woods, hiding from his father and Regina, then killing ogres together?” Her mother thought about it, stacking Regina’s boots in the sun to dry. “I suppose dating is less of an issue in this world. Sometimes it seems like you have so little time. Something’s always waiting to go wrong and it’s not like you have to work, but at the same time you’re working just being alive. It’s complicated.”

“You mean getting the girl pregnant before I even kiss her will fit in well in this family?”

“When I met your father, I stole from him. Though we were properly married, twice even, before we had you, so I still have something to look down my nose at you for.”

Emma’s armour shone after it had been oiled and she smiled at it, even if it was going to take work to keep it this nice. Did she have a way to dodge the marriage comment? 

“Let’s see how the date goes first, okay?”

“Do you really want to wait?” Snow paused, something incredibly bright in her eyes.

“Wait for what?”

“To date Regina. To court her a little before you--“

“Before I?”

Snow stuffed something back into her pocket. Something small, that had been in her hand. “Nothing.”

“Mom?”

“You were going to all this trouble, I thought perhaps you were going to--“

“Going to?”

“Here.” Snow forced something small and cool, like a coin into Emma’s hand. “I guess you won’t need it right away but your father and I agreed you should have it.”

“Have what?” Emma opened her hand and within it sat a small silver ring, with a green stone. “Mom, no, I can’t--“

Her mother was all flustered, and she kept fidgeting with her hands. “It was your grandmother’s. She died so that your father and I could have you. She would want you to have this. Your father got me another one just this morning. See?” Snow held up her hand with a simple gold band on it. “He got one too, and we had our motto engraved on the inside of them. Took some convincing to get the jeweller to write it in our letters, but she agreed eventually.”

Now Emma really felt the idiot. Here her mother was, making this grand gesture and Emma hadn’t even been planning to do anything this romantic. “Mom, I wasn’t going to.”

“I know and I’m sorry if I’ve made you uncomfortable I just, well, I misunderstood. Besides, if you are going to propose, tonight, or any other night, I don’t want you to do it with another ring. I want you to have my ring, your grandmother’s ring, because I love you and I want our family to have some traditions.”

“You and dad agreed that I can give this ring to Regina?” 

“We did.”

Emma opened her mouth and closed it again, staring down at the ring in her hand. “Wow.”

“I’m going to go.” Snow turned, ready to flee below deck before the conversation grew any more awkward.

“Mom, wait.” Emma balled her hand into a fist, the ring in the centre. “If I asked, do you think she’d say yes?”

“Oh honey.” Snow came back and held her tight. “Regina’s not known for being patient. If you take too long, she’ll probably just ask you.”

“Right. So I should ask.”

“Has she said anything?”

Emma blinked. “Yeah, once she made a joke about it but I didn’t think. I mean we--“

“Are you ever going to want to be anywhere but with her?”

Shaking her head slowly, Emma opened her hand and looked at the ring again. “No. I mean, I think not, but I can’t know, can I?”

Snow patted Emma’s chest. “Go with your heart, Emma. It’s never wrong.”

* * *

Emma ended up giving her plenty of warning before their date, which would have been helpful if Regina had an alarm clock or any real way of keeping time. They had a window out to the sea in their room but the sea tended to look like the sea, without much differentiation as the sun sank lower. They had candles and an old hourglass that didn’t really keep time that well, but Hook said it had sentimental value. 

Regina weighed the merits of getting dressed so she was ready in case she fell asleep again and decided it was the safest course. She’d been saving her newest dress (of the five she had now) for this occasion and she hadn’t even unwrapped it from the cloth it had come in. There were no heels in Qin and the nicest shoes she’d found were beautiful embroidered cloth were more birds on them. They were a little too red and she felt a little short standing next to Emma in flats, but it wasn’t as if she had the internet and a cursed credit card. 

Her hair was outgrowing the style she last cut it into but again, there was little short of magic she could do to fix that and spending magic on her hair seemed vain. She tied it up, pulling it to the back of her head. She had no reason to be nervous, but it was one of the most pleasant flutterings of her stomach in weeks, so she hung onto it. 

Meaning to only shut her eyes for a few minutes, she was glad she’d asked David to wake her when he knocked and told her the sun was setting. Regina yawned into her hand and thanked him, trying not to think too much into his gentle smile. Snow and Charming had been insufferable when she hated them and now that she was somewhat fond of both of them, they were rather sweet. 

She didn’t know what to do with rather sweet. She’d had a handful of people she was even cordial with and more enemies than she could count. Regina had to think of her father just to remember what it felt like to be kind to people, but thinking of him always stung. 

Standing up from the bed, she arranged the folds of her dress. It was another of the layered costumes that were popular here, with some kind of blossoms tiny little birds. She’d liked it because of the rich blue silk and the way it was almost translucent in the right light. There were far too many layers for anyone to see anything but she liked to be able to tease Emma, who was so very fond of devouring Regina with her eyes. 

No one was on deck to see them off, which was a pleasant surprise because she’d almost expected the whole ship to be up waving at them. Emma took several seconds to clear her throat and find words, which meant the dress was acceptable. 

Emma’s own was black, simple with clean lines. The pattern of the fabric was subtle and Regina only noticed it when Emma took her arm. She recognised Snow’s touch in her hair and spent half a moment wondering what it was like for Emma to actually enjoy her mother fussing over her. Whenever Cora had worried about her hair, it was never good enough. 

Handing her an orchid, Emma bowed slightly and gestured to the dock. “My parents have graciously agreed not to wait up.”

“Oh really? I can bring you home past ten?”

“Assuming you know when ten is, sure.” Emma led her down into a small boat with that came with two men standing in the back to pole it along. She said something to them and they headed down the coastline. 

This port was smaller than the first they’d stopped at and out around the natural edge of the bay, they headed up a river mouth, deep into the trees. A lantern in the front gave them a pool of light on the dark water, but all around them it was soft and still. 

“Do I get to know where we’re going?”

Emma reached over and toyed with Regina’s hand. “Do you need to know?”

“Needing and wanting are two very near emotions.” 

“We’re going upriver.”

Regina shook her head, sniffed the faint sweetness of her orchid and let Emma be in charge. The river was wide and slow, and they didn’t have to go far before a small dock lit by two lanterns appeared in the night. Tall willows covered the bank and the only thing that seemed to be there was the dock. 

Emma hopped out first, lowering her hands for Regina. “Did you know that restaurants and movie theatres really haven’t made it over to fairy tale land as I think they should?”

“I had no idea your staple dates were so pedestrian.” 

Thanking the boatmen, Emma tossed them a small bag of coins and lit a lantern that had been waiting on the dock. In front of them, tall stalks of bamboo reached up into the night sky like walls along the path, with the stars overhead as a strip of ceiling between the green. 

“It took some searching, but mom and dad made the leatherworkers so happy with all their purchases that they volunteered the fact that the local bureaucrat has a summer palace that he never uses. So, here we are. A whole summer pavilion to ourselves, in the middle of the bamboo forest. It’ll have to be a picnic, and I honestly have no real idea what some of the food is but it’s a little romantic, don’t you think?”

Emma led her around the twisting path until it opened up in a stretch of gazebos, with ornate six sided roofs surrounding a still pond full of sleeping lotus flowers. All around them the bamboo whistled in the evening while insects and frogs hummed. It was spectacularly quiet, but alive, unlike the solace of the sea. 

“I think this is the most alone we’ve been, other than our nine-headed snake adventure.”

“If he counts as nine people, we weren’t very alone at all.” Emma found the picnic, waiting for them in one of the small gazebos, laid out on a low table with cushions all around it. 

Concentrating, Emma lit all the lanterns, leaving them in a circle of light around the pond. All the lanterns were square and ornately carved. The railings were also richly carved marble with tiny stone guardians all around them. 

“How are you with chopsticks?”

Regina laughed and shook her head. “I only cursed the one restaurant into Storybrooke and I have never travelled this far from home before.”

“Lots of napkins then,” Emma said, passing them over. “At least they gave us wooden ones. I was at a fancy restaurant once on a sting and the chopsticks were stone. Have you ever tried to pick up a piece of broccoli with stone?”

“What happened?”

“I threw broccoli at the guy, then nabbed him. Then I ate the leftovers in the car with a plastic fork.” Emma passed over a tiny cup without handles. “And there’s tea, because there is always tea.”

“I like the tiny cups.”

“I know, they’re like little tea shot glasses.”

Emma tried to explain chopsticks as best she could. Luckily there were spoons for the soup, which went first. The noodles weren’t too bad. Regina had very steady hands and managed to get the hang of chopsticks fairly well, but the chicken was difficult. The spicy, fragrant sauce was incredible but the pieces were slippery and she could not get them to stay between the sticks on the way to her mouth, no matter how she held her hands. 

“Here,” Emma said, grabbing a piece of chicken and holding it over the table.

“You’re feeding me?”

“Only as foreplay, not as a reflection of your inability to pick up chicken.”

Regina neatly plucked the morsel from Emma’s outstretched chopsticks, licking her lips suggestively. “Are you sure it’s chicken?”

“I specifically asked for no chimera. It might be snake. Do you have any issues with snake?”

“I would have eaten chimera,” Regina said, letting Emma feed her again. 

“Seriously? I can’t handle having a plate of meat from one animal with three different textures. It’s too weird.”

By the time the chicken was gone, Regina would have skipped straight to the part where they forgot the food and started kissing. Emma’s look of concentration whenever she watched Regina’s mouth was intoxicating. 

Emma placed the last round container in the middle of the small table and set the others all aside. Regina picked up her chopsticks again and Emma shook her head. 

“This one’s just a gift. I know it’s early but I wanted to be the first one to get anything.”

Lifting the lid from the container, Regina tried to decide what Emma was hinting at. Inside, resting on a scrap of white silk, were a tiny pair of shoes. They fit in the palm of her hand when she picked them up. They were green silk, with bright gold lion faces on the toes, complete with curling manes, and possibly the most adorable pair of shoes she’d ever seen. 

She’d bought Henry everything he needed, well before he’d arrived, but she’d never been given a baby gift before. Henry’s adoption had been quite private until he was there and nothing could go wrong. 

Still staring at the shoes, she barely trusted herself to look at Emma. Tears welled hot in her eyes and she turned the lions to face Emma. 

“You chose these?”

Emma jumped, immediately ready to apologise. “You don’t like lions?”

“Oh, Emma.” Her voice wasn’t quite working and Emma’s expression grew more sad the longer that it took her to speak. Regina reached for her, squeezing her arm. “No, no, they’re adorable. Look at their little faces. It’s just, well, I haven’t been given a baby gift for a child that’s not present before.”

A hint of pink was in Emma’s face. “I thought we could hang on to them. That way we remember what we’re heading for if we start to think we’ll never get there.”

“They’re beautiful. Why were you looking for baby shoes?”

“I wasn’t really, I was just, and they were there, and it’s stupid, isn’t it?”

Regina slid off her cushion and sat with Emma on hers, the shoes still in her outstretched hand. “I’ve never really hoped for the future before. I’ve always had something to avenge, someone I wanted to make pay and I've lived for that. Now all I can think about are the feet that are going to fit in here. They’ll be so small, Emma.” 

Slipping her fingertip into one shoe, Emma nodded. “I know they’re not a traditional date gift.”

“We live on a pirate ship, our son spends half his time as a merman and your parents just bought us armour. What traditions would you like us to uphold, exactly?” Regina let her arm slip around Emma’s waist, which she hadn’t often done. Emma usually initiated contact. Regina was still irrationally afraid that if she reached for her, Emma would pull away. 

“This is your first date, isn’t it?”

Nodding, Regina set down the shoes very carefully on the table and turned them so the shoes were looking at both of them with their little embroidered eyes. She arranged their whiskers, so they were perfect. 

Emma rested her hand on Regina's knee. “I wanted it to be special.”

“Emma, this is special. This is one of the nicest things anyone’s ever done for me. It’s beautiful, the food was delicious and you bought our baby shoes.” She ran her hand along Emma’s arm, searching for her fingers. “Our baby has shoes.”

Emma kissed her cheek. “I’m glad you liked them, and the date. Even if chopsticks are a little difficult.” 

“Thank you for not getting stone.”

“Neither of us would have eaten then.” Emma wrapped back up the shoes and handed them to Regina. “Do you want to see the bamboo garden? It’s beautiful, apparently.”

Tucking the shoes away into a pocket of her dress, Regina got to her feet. “I’ve never seen a bamboo garden.” 

Emma took the lantern in one hand and picked up a folded blanket with the other. “Come on. There’s a path through it to the clearing where we can watch the stars over the sea.”

Regina wrapped her arm around Emma’s. The path led away from the pond into the trees. “Lead the way.” 

The bamboo grew high and tall next to the path, forming narrow, tall corridors like a great green cathedral. The cobblestones beneath their feet suggested that these paths were planned, but they seemed so secretive. The lantern only lit a little way ahead of them, leaving them in a tiny bubble of light. Emma stopped them around one corner and kissed her, pressing her body against Regina's. 

“A really good date has stolen kisses," she explained. 

“I would have given it to you.”

Leading her through twisting paths deeper into the green, Emma smirked. “Where’s the challenge in that?”

In a neat, square clearing, Emma threw the blanket over the damp grass then sat, patting the blanket next to her. Regina sat, smoothing her dress. Emma blew out the lantern and grabbed Regina’s hand when she startled at the sudden darkness. 

“Wait for it.”

She saw the ocean, far below. One edge of the clearing was definitely a cliff or an overhang of some sort. As her eyes adjusted, Regina saw the ships, far below at anchor and the stars burning overhead. She’d forgotten how many stars there were without streetlights when she'd lived in Storybrooke and the past few weeks on the _Jolly Roger_ she’d remembered just how complex the night sky was. 

“I’d never seen stars like this,” Emma said. “When I first came through to here, with my Mom, I couldn’t get over how bright it was at night. I’ve lived in cities my whole life, but here, even in a city, it would still be gorgeous. There’s no satellites, no planes: it’s just stars.”

“I think you’ll find there’s several spying fairies, no matter where you are in the world.”

“Should we give them a show?” Emma’s hand ran along the collar of Regina’s dress, warm and intoxicating.

“You want to? Here?”

“There’s no one for leagues or fathoms or however we measure distance out here.”

“But we’re outside.”

Emma started kissing her neck, running her hand slowly down Regina’s chest. “And?”

A little tingle ran up her spine, and it wasn’t just because Emma’s lips were so warm. 

“What if we get cold?”

Fingers on Regina’s waist, Emma chuckled. “You won’t get cold.”

So she kissed her, wrapping her arms around Emma’s shoulders and pulling her close. Wanting to kiss her all through dinner made now that much sweeter. In starlight, Emma’s skin glowed as if she were an unearthly creature. Reaching for the tie at Emma’s neck, she started to undress her, wanting more of her skin. Emma sat back, letting Regina take her time. 

Only the flimsiest of silk tunics was beneath Emma’s dress and Regina parted the neck, opening it up to Emma’s breasts. She found the inner ties, opening Emma’s dress down to her waist. 

“I’ve never done this outside.” Regina kissed her way down Emma’s chest through the silk. 

“Feels naughty, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, even though this is the most privacy we’ve ever had.”

“The fireflies are watching.” 

Laughing, she pushed Emma down to the blanket and worked her way up her leg. Leg shaving was a thing of another world and the hair on Emma’s thigh was soft and all but invisible. Being blonde was entirely unfair. Regina’s heritage had not been so kind but Emma loved her legs regardless. Opening Emma’s dress all the way, Regina unwrapped her from the silk, licking and tasting as she went. 

Emma had been right about the fireflies. Tiny green flashes of light lit the bamboo, moving in unearthly patterns. One of them landed on the blanket, flashing by Emma’s left hand. Regina let it stay, but fixed it with a pointed look.

“This one’s mine.”

Laughing, Emma winked at the firefly. "Seems I'm taken." Wriggling out of her tunic, Emma pulled it over her head and dropped it to the side of the blanket. “See, not cold at all.”

Regina stroked up and down her legs, making Emma shiver. Then she dropped her hands to the complicated fastenings of her own dress. Emma had to help her because her hands were too hurried. 

“Did you ask for the hard one?”

“I did. I thought to myself, it’s always too easy for Emma to get me naked. I should make it a challenge.”

Emma’s hands slid in to her dress, teasing her sore breasts through the bandages that bound them. She cupped them in her hands, as if measuring them. 

“Think this is a whole cup size yet?” 

“We don’t measure them that way here.”

“Oh? Do you compare them to fruit? I’ll have the dress designed for grapefuits, please.”

“Your pillow talk is so romantic.”

Emma’s hand slid right up Regina’s thigh, inside the silk of her dress to rub against her. She moaned into Emma’s neck. 

“You’re intelligent,” Emma whispered. She started at the neck of Regina’s dress and worked her way down. “You have the most incredible smile when you mean it and I love that now you mean it all the time. You’re beautiful. I used to watch you across the room and wish I could make sitting in a chair look that good. You’re patient with me when I can’t do magic right. You make me laugh when I’m in a terrible mood. You want the best for Henry, even when he’s obnoxious. You love me the way I never knew I could be loved.”

No one every said such things to her. No one saw the good in her like that. She wasn’t even sure there was that much good to see; certainly not as much as Emma saw. 

“I wasn’t actually asking--“ Hovering on the edge of tears, she kissed Emma. “You deserved to be loved far better than I can.”

“You love better than you think.”

“I don’t know how.” Her voice rose too much. She was going to cry before they even started making love. 

Emma parted the front of Regina’s dress, stroking up her thigh. “Yes you do. You love me exactly right.”

Regina kissed her neck, then her shoulder. “Maybe you’re a little broken too.”

“That’s why we fit, isn’t it? We must be rough in all the right places.”

“Emma--“

“I know. I might not have your intellect but I know you, and I don’t need you to say anything.”

“You’re very intelligent.”

Emma tried to distract her with fingers against her, but Regina shook her off. 

“You will not call yourself stupid again. If I do indeed love you ‘exactly right’, I’d never let you get away with that.”

Nodding slowly, Emma found a smile. “Got it.”

Parting her legs, Regina intended to let her continue where she’d left off, but now Emma wanted her breasts bare. So she stood, nearly naked in the forest of full of tiny lights, spinning out of the cloth that bound her breasts. When she sat back down, Emma pinned her, her leg between Regina’s thighs.

“Then you’re not evil.”

“What?”

“I’m not an idiot, you’re not evil. They’re the new groundrules.” 

She would have agreed to anything to have Emma move her thigh in tighter so she nodded. 

“Deal.”

Then, mercifully, neither of them had anything else to say. Emma rolled beneath her, but Regina rolled them back. It felt safer under Emma, and she liked to see the stars behind her head. Emma sucked and toyed with her nipples, knowing it only took the barest touch to make her moan. Regina dropped her hand between Emma’s legs, stroking her too far back to really make her squirm. Inserting a finger, then another, she widened her legs so Emma could find her way in. 

Emma was becoming a practiced tease, working her thumb and fingers together until Regina gasped for breath, the stars above blending together into a haze of light. Emma kissed her, then slid her mouth down to finish her. Working her talented tongue until Regina cried out, trembling beneath her. Wiping her mouth on her arm, Emma returned to kiss her with the taste of Regina on her lips. 

Emma came a moment later, her back arched towards the forest, her head titled towards the sky. She straddled Regina’s hips, sweat glinting on her skin. Emma dropped down to kiss her again, resting her arms beside her. Regina held her down, keeping her close. 

“I’m afraid I may have given you the wrong impression,” Regina said.

“Oh?”

“I may not have been on a date before, but I know this is not the traditional way a first date ends.”

“Good thing we agreed not to be traditional.” Emma slipped off her and lay at her side, toying with something sewn into her dress. “In fact, I’m going to do something very not traditional.” She tore at her dress and a few stitches popped. 

“Emma, your dress is beautiful, be--“ Regina was going to finish telling her to be careful, to remind Emma that beautiful things were often fragile, but Emma was kneeling next to her and something small was in her hands. 

“Regina--“

She knew that ring. She knew the stone, the setting, and how far that ring had come to be in Emma’s hands. 

“We’re breaking all the traditions now, aren’t we?” Her voice was very dry. Regina couldn’t let her control slip, or she’d be lost. 

“Regina, I want you to marry me. I know I’m asking a lot from you and it might not be something you want now, or any time soon, but someday you might and I, well, I’ve never thought about marriage. I didn’t think I’d ever want, but I do. I want you and I love you, and even if we never get past this point, I need you to have this.”

Emma took Regina’s trembling hand and turned it, to put the ring in her palm.

“Your mother’s ring.”

“She gave it to me.”

“To give to me,” Regina said.

Emma nodded, lifting her eyes from the ring to Regina. “Welcome to the family?”

What was she supposed to say? How was she supposed to find words? She’d hated this ring, loathed all it represented, mocked true love and Emma’s parents connection and tried her utmost to destroy them both. 

But they resisted, and made Emma, and Emma had saved them all. 

Even her. 

Regina handed the ring back to Emma, crushing something in her eyes so that Emma seemed to shrink in front of her. 

“Please,” Regina paused, searching the bottom of her soul for strength so she could finish. “You have to place it on my hand. You can’t just hand it to me.”

“What?”

She shut her eyes and let go of the last angry part of her who’d been sold into marriage. This time, she chose for herself and she wanted Emma. “If you’d like me to answer in the affirmative, you need to slip the ring onto my finger. It’s only proper.”

Emma kissing her senseless was not what Regina had expected next, but she would never objected being kissed like that. Laughing, Emma took her hand again, attempting to be serious.

“Regina, will you marry me?”

“Yes, Miss Swan, Emma, I will. Quite happily.”

Emma tilted her back to the blanket, sliding the ring back on her finger and kissing Regina’s hand to make it stick. She repeated how much she loved her, berating Regina for giving her such a moment of doubt, then kissed her again and again. 

The fireflies got an encore that evening. They finally teleported back to the ship, clothing rumpled beyond any sort of propriety. Regina toyed with the ring on her hand, wondering what twisted gods had made her destiny so convoluted and how she could thank them.

* * *

Someone had taken the sweetness out of the air. It was too dry somehow, too thin. Emma forced her eyes open even though they ached to remain shut. Everything hurt, like she’d had four too many Long Island iced teas. It was still dawn. Grey, feeble light stretched through the window. The blankets had slipped from Regina’s back and she lay on Emma’s chest, nude. 

It didn’t make sense. Emma hadn’t drank anything but tea. They’d been in bed reasonably early and she hadn’t had nightmares. She hadn’t even dreamt. There had just been blackness. Regina coughed, then groaned. 

“Emma.”

“Something’s wrong.” Sitting up carefully, Emma waited for Regina to open her eyes. “What is it?”

“Magic. Something’s taken the magic. Like the trigger--“ Regina’s eyes shut again before she forced them open. “This is worse.”

“Come on.” Emma pulled on her tunic, then slipped the chest piece of her armour on over her head. Pulling on her boots, she tried to listen for sounds of danger, but it was still. Regina had boots and her tunic and Emma stopped her, helping her into her chest armour. Without magic, they needed something.

“Just in case.”

Black with fear, Regina’s eyes clung to her. “I can’t cast anything. Not even a light spell.”

Nodding, Emma forced down the buzzing in her head. “I know. Me either. What could do that?”

“I don’t know.” 

Regina’s terror made Emma reach for her sword, and her dagger. 

“Get yours.”

Taking it half-heartedly, Regina held the scabbard, not the hilt. “I haven’t used a sword in decades.”

“Hopefully you have a good memory.”

Her parents were already on deck, in full armour instead of just the torsos. They must have had more practice getting all of it on. Hook had his hand on his sword as well. Their steel faces looked as nervous as Emma felt. 

“Something’s wrong,” Snow said. 

Emma nodded. “We have no magic.” 

“None?” David’s eyes went wide. 

“It’s just gone.”

“Are you okay?” Snow took a step towards them both, her eyes on Regina. 

“Feel like I woke up in a gutter, but yeah. We’re okay.” Emma followed her mother’s gaze. 

Regina looked worse than Emma felt. Dark circles surrounded her eyes; her skin was pale, like worn paper. Still, she nodded. 

All around them ships in the harbour stirred, their crews coming up on deck. Whatever it was, whatever was happening, everyone felt it. 

Henry climbed out of the ship, running for Regina. “Mom, something’s coming.”

“I know.” She winced, he’d forgotten to put the amulet behind him and a burn blossomed on her palm. Emma pulled him back, hugging him to make up for the panic in her gut before she pushed him towards her parents. 

Regina held her feet, surprisingly stable. “I don’t feel any worse.” Her burned hand dropped to her stomach, sudden fear stiffening her body. 

“It’s okay,” Emma promised. “The baby’s okay. It’s just, without magic, magic can’t make you sick. Right?”

Snow pulled a bandage from her armour and bound Regina’s hand. “It’ll be fine.”

Regina’s eyes screamed that none of them knew it was fine, but she looked at Snow and managed to nod. 

Alarm gongs were rung on land and in the lookout towers, booming out a warning. 

“Look at the sky,” David said, pointing. He drew his sword, dropping the scabbard to the deck. Emma followed suit and her mom took an arrow in hand. 

Instead of the sun rising further, something rose from the sea to obscure it. A living blackness covered the sun like a biblical plague. It was huge, miles across and more blackness trailed it, like the tails of a kite. 

It was hungry. 

Emma could feel its yearning in the pit of her stomach. They all must have felt it and a murmur of horror echoed through the bay. The darkness crossed the sun and light returned, but after it passed the sun had no warmth and only provided a mockery of light. 

Emma could see her breath in a little cloud in front of her lips and the exposed skin on her thighs and arms protested the cold with goosebumps.

“Henry, run.” Regina said, pulling her sword from the sheath and dropping the leather to the deck. “Go to the merfolk. Now. Run.”

“No, Mom, you can fight this. You’re heroes.”

Emma squeezed his shoulder. “Kid, sometimes heroes get their asses kicked and I'd rather you weren't here to see that.”

A naval ship in the outer bay fired its cannon up at the creature and the balls hit and vanished, sucked into the void. Trails of darkness reached down for the ship the crew began to scream. 

“So much for gunpowder and iron,” Hook said, flipping his sword in his hand. “I’ll die before some dark monster takes my ship.”

“Hopefully it won’t come to that.” Snow looked at Emma and nodded. “He should go.”

Emma crouched in front of him, pushing his messy brown hair back from his forehead. “Your mom’s right kid. Go. Go to the merfolk, tell the king something awful happened here. Bring reinforcements if you can. Triton’s a good king, right?”

“Yes.” Tears welled in his eyes. “It’s my fault.”

“No, no, kid.” She hugged him again, holding him tight to her armour. “Right now you need to save us. We’ll try to hold the ship, but without magic it’s going to be hard. We’ll need help and you’re the only one who can get it for us, okay?”

“Henry, we need you to do this.” Regina came to them, holding his shoulder. 

He wiped his eyes and nodded, his chin trembling. “Okay.” He looked back at them twice. 

“We love you, Henry.”

“I’ll get help.” His shoulders shaking, Henry dove over the side in his pyjamas and vanished beneath the sea. 

Regina swayed for an instant against Emma, then shut her eyes. “He’s safe.”

“And he won’t be alone,” Emma whispered. She was throwing her son to strangers again but the first time that had been okay, maybe the merfolk didn’t have curses to worry about. 

“We are not giving up, you two.” Snow’s voice hit Emma like a slap across the face. “Henry’s safe and that’s good but we need to get home. We have to beat this and get back to our people.”

David warmed up his sword. “No flying kite is going to keep us away.” 

The screaming on the first ship stopped and the tentacles of the creature reached down for the next. Horror welled within her but it didn’t have time to ferment. Darkness stretched its hungry hands for them.

Emma had always gone looking for danger when it got really bad for her. She went looking for the dragon, went after the nine-headed snake, and threw herself in front of Cora and the Wraith. Evil hadn’t come for her before and part of her wanted to crawl into the ship and hide like a frightened child. She had Regina, and her parents, so she fought. 

The sword could keep the ribbons of darkness away. Slicing them made darkness fall in pools that bubbled up from the deck like boiling tar, but it made the threads retract, so they cut mercilessly. Her parents fought back to back, in a whirlwind of steel. So much blackness fell at their feet that their boots smoked with it. 

Regina did remember how to use a sword and she probably had better form than Emma, but the blackness kept coming. They cut it back until it fell like rain around them, running down their armour and staining the deck. 

It burned like acid when it hit bare flesh and Emma’s arms were a map of twisted, livid wounds. On ships across from her, the shadow pulled people up, taking them screaming into the body of the creature. It took whole vessels, lifting them like dishes it needed to lick clean. 

A ribbon tangled in the captain’s hook and tugged him off his feet. David cut him down but there were black burns on his face and he was still. David stood over him, cutting and ripping and keeping the darkness at bay. 

Regina screamed in pain and Emma saw her go down out of the corner of her eye. Snow was closer and went for her. One of the damn tentacles had hit her in the leg and she didn’t seem to be able to put any weight on it. Emma backed towards them, careful not to run through black, but she wanted to. She wanted to tear across the deck until she was there. 

Something tugged her arm, pulling her back. Emma whirled with her sword but it wasn’t the monster, it was Pan. He’d come with the darkness somehow and he wanted her. He yanked again and her feet rose from the deck. Angry darkness reached for her and Pan but he waved it away. Was he in league with it? Was this his creation or was he simply taking advantage?

“Emma!”

Her father ran for her, grabbing her by the leg as she rose. 

The darkness reached for the _Jolly Roger_ , lifting it from the sea at a wild angle, unwilling to let Pan take even one of its prizes. The ship hung in midair, half out of the sea and barrels rolled and smashed within. Two tentacles rose from a window, Emma and Regina's window, clutching two small objects. Emma couldn’t tell what they were. Her mother’s sword flashed and she sliced one of them. Whatever it was fell, hitting the deck with a flash of bright purple. 

Something cracked, echoing across the sea and overcoming the sounds of terror.

Lightning reached up from that flash and Regina absorbed it like a sponge, lighting the darkness. She stood up, purple fire blazing in her eyes, no longer favouring her injured leg. The darkness had made the sun weak. Beneath the creature Regina was so bright that she cast shadows of the dark tentacles all over the sea and the deck. She pulled Snow in close with one arm and fire grew around her in a column, expanding, encompassing the _Jolly Roger_ and rising until it reached from the sea to the horror above. 

Emma covered her face with her free arm, struggling to be free of Pan. She saw her father do the same, trying to protect his eyes. Fire lashed out like a primordial volcano, burning and reshaping all in its path. 

For a second, Emma felt the sun, warm on her face. Regina had burned a hole in the darkness and the sun shone through. Pan screamed in rage: an inhuman shriek that sliced her ears. 

Emma shared Regina’s indecision, caught her eyes through the chaos and tried to nod. 

“Go.” She wasn’t sure if she was saying it with her mind or her mouth. “Go. You’ll find us.”

The darkness turned back, the tentacles retreated. The hole through to the sun smoked and then started to heal. The monster headed forward, still hungry for the town. Pan went with back, pulling further away from the ship, from her mother and Regina. After a moment, the monster reached down again, still greedy for life. Tentacles stretched for the ship but it was gone. 

The _Jolly Roger_ , Regina, her mother and Hook all vanished, teleporting away in a cloud of smoke. 

The creature continued its carnage, dragging ships and screaming bodies with it. Pan drew them further away, hiding in the shadow of the creature that seemed to go on forever. Emma reached down for her father, helping him climb her until they were wrapped around each other. His face wore red blisters from Regina’s fire and Emma could feel her own skin begin to scream. 

“Don’t let go,” her father whispered and Emma held him tight. Trying to find the faith that they’d be found, she buried her face in his chest. Forgetting about Pan, the monster and all the horrors, she thought of Regina, her mother smiling, and baby shoes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be on a train (totally without internet) until Monday and I'll update then. Huge apologies for the cliffhanger over the weekend. I thought about just ending it on the happy bit, but the chapter didn't feel complete. 
> 
> The nine headed monster is XiangLiu, from Chinese mythology. The flying black horror is more Lovecraftian and I made it up. Henry will learn not to hate magic so much. He's just in a rough patch at the moment.
> 
> Thanks carrying on with me and this story. It's an incredibly positive experience to write for such a lovely audience.


	12. Chapter 12

Someone repeated her name, over and over, turning the syllables into a mantra. She hurt, everywhere. Her skin burned as it had after Greg and his infernal device. The electricity had raced through her, leaving her burnt. Now she’d been burnt again. Her flesh ragged. Her leg-- She tried to move it and rediscovered what pain was. It sang through her, searing what was left of her nerves white hot.

“Regina.”

“Emma?”

Not Emma. So like Emma but not. 

“No, sweetheart. Not Emma.”

She wanted Emma. Emma would make the pain go away. 

Emma was gone. Wasn’t she? How could she be--?

“Snow.” 

Emma’s mother. Her own little step-daughter, not so little now. Her face came into view, streaked with soot and blood.

“Regina, can you hear me?” 

“Yes.” Maybe now she’d go away. She was so tired, so empty. So sick of fighting.

Snow didn’t want to let her sleep. Snow wanted something. Snow and her red hands won’t leave. 

Red.

Red as blood. 

Snow’s blood was brown and dried on her face. This blood was fresh.

“No.” She tried to sit up, to protest that this was not allowed. Losing Emma, that was enough punishment. “No, I can’t--“

“It’s your leg,” Snow said quickly. “Your leg, Regina. Your leg is bleeding, badly, but it’s just your leg.”

“Not--“ It took so much to speak, as if her throat were miles long and she couldn’t control it. 

“Not the baby. There’s no blood. No fluid. I checked.”

“Checked?”

“That would be all I wanted to know, if it were me.” Snow leaned close, her lips near Regina’s ear. “Your baby’s fine.”

Then she could sleep. The horror softened, her heart slowed. She could sleep. So tired.

Snow slapped her. A tiny spot of brightness flared, almost like pain. How quaint.

“Regina, you have to heal yourself.”

“Can’t. Never had hea-healing magic.” 

“The wound in your leg is very deep. I can’t stop the bleeding.” Snow looked so concerned. 

Regina lifted her hand but it won’t rise. “It’s not the baby.” 

“If you die, your baby will die. Emma’s baby--“ Snow’s voice cracked. 

Regina’s vision faded, black taking Snow’s features. She was too tired to put the thought together. “That’s too bad.”

“Regina, you must heal yourself.”

“I can’t.”

Not a slap. Something soft, pressed against her forehead. That brightness came again, threatening to keep her awake. 

“Do it for your baby.”

Her baby? Henry was her baby. Henry was safe. 

Snow’s hand rested on Regina’s stomach and light threatened her again, chasing the embracing darkness that would so welcome her. 

“Let me go.” The darkness had always been coming for her. Snow was safe, wasn’t that enough for her?

“I need you, Regina. I can’t save Emma or David without you. I can’t get to Henry. Your baby needs you. If you die--“

“I just want to sleep.”

Something wet fell onto her face. Snow’s breath was close against her skin. 

“If you sleep, you’ll die. Emma’s baby will die. I can’t stop the bleeding and you can’t die.”

Her leg was someone else’s, alternately burning and freezing. She couldn’t feel her knee, or anything below it. Perhaps it was for the best. She’d been deluding herself, making a mockery of good. The blackness had come for her. It always would have. 

Something bright hit her again, blooming on her forehead and sending light down her spine. It hurt. Life hurt. Death would be painless.

“I don’t love--“

“You love Emma,” Snow insisted. “You love this baby. You love Henry. You are full of love Regina.”

Finally, she moved her hand, lifting it to Snow’s bloody face. She could heal her; take the pain from her eyes. Magic seeped from her fingers as it it too were bleeding, healing the wounds on Snow’s face. 

“Can heal you. Not--“

Snow turned her hand, holding Regina’s hand against her leg. It was so hot. So sticky. What was on her hand? Was it her blood? How was it so hot when she was so cold?

“Do it again, Regina. Please. You healed me.”

Death lapped at her, nipping her fingers like a hungry animal. She wouldn’t be cold anymore. Death was warm and comfortable.

“I love you.” No need to lie. No reason to hold anything back now. “Easy.”

“Don’t you?”

Regina let her eyes close, the fight slipping from her. Snow was safe. Snow was just going to have to save Emma. Apologise for her failure. It was selfish, so selfish to leave but she didn’t have the strength. She was too weak to fight now. She’d tried.

“Can’t you save yourself?” Snow begged.

That was the problem. She couldn’t summon enough love for herself to heal her own wounds. Never has, never will now. Now she’s so tired. 

“Emma loves you.”

“Sorry,” Regina whispered. “So sorry.”

Another slap, but she barely felt it. Her ears reported the crack of flesh against flesh, but that was all. 

Another kiss, and perhaps she felt that more. Only Emma ever kissed her, but this is different. Maternal. The child was the mother now. How ironic.

“I love you.” 

Breath filled Regina’s chest, turning her vision white with agony. Rising like the tide, her magic welled within her, reaching for the blood vessels in her leg. 

“I love you, take that, use it. I’ve always loved you. You were my mother.”

Now they were reversed. Regina fed on Snow’s love for her, her magic taking what she couldn’t produce internally. The blood vessels went first, knitting together, searing out the blackness that contaminated them. The muscle crept up, covering the exposed bone, filling in her leg. Skin and fat crawled above that, sealing the wound. 

Snow gasped, falling against her panting, but alive. They’re both alive. They’ll find Emma. Snow’s hand took Regina’s, rubbing the ring on her finger. 

“We’ll get them back.”

* * *

Snow’s lips on her forehead again woke her. Pain was no longer a part of her, but it was stalking her. Her arms--

“You have more burns, if you have the strength.”

Her throat was too dry for speech, but there was water and somehow she drank it rather than drowning in it. 

“If you don’t have the strength, take mine,” Snow finished. She lifted Regina’s hand to her chest, resting it on her heart. “I have plenty.”

Snow felt like Emma. Her heart beat like Emma’s, sure and strong. Not halting, not exhausted like Regina’s own. She took again, drawing on Snow’s unending reservoir of love. No magic book of Rumplestiltskin’s had ever spoken of this: of feeding on the willing rather than taking. Her arms repaired themselves, new skin replacing the burnt and shredded flesh that monster left behind. 

Snow caught her breath, her eyes half-closed. 

“Hook?” He went down, Regina remembered. 

“He’s not as bad.”

“I can, if you--“

Snow lifted her, dragging her to her feet. Regina still couldn’t feel her own legs, but they must have had some strength in them because she could stand, sort of. Luckily, Hook was barely a handful of steps away, lying on the deck of his ship.

Regina collapsed beside him and Snow was there again, holding her as if she were a sick child. Magic seeped from her hands, repairing his injuries, rebuilding his skin, clearing the infection trying to take hold. 

The sun soaked into her, too warm to be real. There’s green all around them, surrounding them. 

“Are we safe?”

“You saved us,” Snow promised. Regina couldn’t stand again and Snow held her. Above her, looking down, Snow’s smile looked so much like Emma.

* * *

Snow, and Regina through her, dreamt of Emma, growing within her. The way she twisted and swam, always busy, so curious. Her foot protruded through her womb, testing the skin of her belly, stretching the limits of her confinement. Emma was safe and loved within her mother. So loved.

Cora did not feel the same. The dream shifted. Perhaps she was dying after all. Regina felt Cora looking down at her, as if she saw Cora’s face with eyes that wouldn’t focus.

“Take her to the wet nurse.”

Her mother was gone. Snow’s beside her again. Snow who was no longer pregnant with Emma, no longer sharing that memory. 

“Can you drink this?” Snow lifted her head, easing her up. “It’ll help.”

Herbs cooled her throat, but she coughed, trembling. Snow dragged her all the way up, forcing gravity to help her swallow. She ached, but it itched instead of burning.

“You’re getting better.” Snow was pleased; her eyes bright and warm.

The sun wasn’t overhead. Wood formed this ceiling. Not the ship, but finished wood, beautifully decorated. 

Would her throat work? 

“Where?” It was a croak, but Snow understood her. 

“Safe, in the summer palace. You teleported us here.”

“The ship?”

“In the river. Safe. Hook’s seeing about repairs.”

There was more for her to drink but it went down easier. Her eyes even remained open, finding the green outside the window and the red of Snow’s lips.

“Do you need more?” Snow offered her chest again, almost as if she meant to nurse her back to health.

“You’re not?”

“It doesn’t hurt me,” Snow said. “It’s, well, it’s,” she paused. Then she smiled and Snow dropped her hand to Regina’s stomach, feeling the baby who slept there. “It feels like nursing, I think. I never got to, with Emma, but this feels like I thought it would.”

She didn’t give Snow even the time to nurse her baby when her curse struck. Regina hadn’t ever held a child to her chest. Henry came with bottles, but she would someday, wouldn’t she? Her hand faltered and Snow pulled it close. She’d had her hand over Snow’s heart before. Held that heart in her hand, but now she allowed it feed her, filling her reserves. 

Snow hummed to her, almost singing in that lazy way mothers had. Regina had never sung to Henry. He’d been such a serious child, but she remembered, seeing other women, listening.

She drifted, falling in and out of sleep. Snow was always there, always soft, welcoming and loving. Regina must have been dreaming.

Snow was still there. 

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been lying there, in the soft bed with delicate sheets, but the window was dark, so at least a day, perhaps more. Snow slept next to her in a chair, a blanket pulled to her chest. 

Regina tugged it down, curious as she lifted her head from the pillow. There were bruises on Snow’s chest, finger-sized, deep and purple. She appeared exhausted too, dark circles beneath her eyes. Had she slept? Had Regina been the one to bruise her? She barely had the strength to move her hand, but she remembered magic. She took from Snow. She’s still not sure how much but the bruises must be from her. 

Lifting her head seemed the most herculean of tasks but her shoulders followed and she sat upright just long enough to fall against the headboard.

That woke Snow, who eased her back, steadying her. 

“Don’t move too quickly.”

“How long?”

“Three days, almost four.”

“We need to get Emma--“

“Shhhhh, you need to recover. You were very ill.”

“I hurt you.” It wasn’t a question.

Snow shook her head. “No, it wasn’t painful at all.”

“You’re tired.”

“Because I haven’t been sleeping much. You’ve needed me.”

She almost wanted to ask if she’s been fed every few hours like the infant Snow never got to hold through the night.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, no, I’m glad I could help. I can’t do magic, but, it seems you can take some part of me and use it. I’m so glad I can help that way. We almost lost you.”

“I felt it.” Regina shut her eyes. Death had been gentle, almost loving, but Emma loved her more. “But I’ll live now, won’t I?”

“Oh yes.” Snow leaned close to her, beaming. “You’re going to be fine.”

* * *

The sun rose and set again. Regina only saw snatches of it. Snow fed her, physically and magically, letting Regina take from her heart everything she needed. It wasn’t easy, as it had been with Emma. The drain wore on Snow, darkening her patient face, but they could recover together, Snow promised again and again. 

The fifth day Snow was in bed next to her, fast asleep. The dawn hung grey outside the window but for the first time in her recent memory her head didn’t spin when she sat up. Her limbs were slow, buried in honey or cement, but they responded. 

She drank the water by the bed, pulling her feet free from the sheet. She was nearly naked, dressed in a simple silk shift. Her legs were whole; the left mended. Her arms were also healed with lines of new pink skin. She had healed herself. She reached for Snow, resting her hands on both sides of that wan little face.

Regina gave back, holding Emma in her heart and thanking her for having such a mother. She was herself again. The wellspring of power that slept within her bubbled, ready to respond and instead of anger, all she felt was love, soft and nurturing. She smiled down at Snow. 

“So this is what you feel?”

Murmuring and shifting in sleep, Snow turned her head. Now that Regina had returned some of her strength, she slept, angelic and radiant. 

“Snow White,” Regina whispered. “Who knew the maiden was so maternal?”

The cool floor seemed as far as the moon, but her feet reached it. Stone absorbed the heat of her skin, but she relished the sensation. Life hadn’t abandoned her, even though she let it slip through exhausted fingers. Regina stared at her belly, at what was not yet round beneath her swollen breasts. 

“I’m sorry I nearly let us go. Forgive me.”

“She will,” Snow said, staring up at her. “You look better.”

“I bounce back.”

Snow stretched, sitting up beside her. She felt her limbs then smirked. “You healed me.”

“I had enough.”

“I was happy to do it, Regina. I’m so happy you’re all right.” They were dangerously close to embracing and Regina was not sure she could resist if Snow reached for her. Love was far more complicated than she understood.

“We need to find Emma, and Charming.”

“Neverland,” Snow said. She left the bed, moving far faster than Regina’s exhausted eyes could track. She returned with a map, covered in the letters of Qin, with ink still drying. 

“Scouts have seen Pan here, on the east tip of the island. He has prisoners here, in this group of huts. His army is here, on the north side of the island. No one knows where the creature sleeps, but Triton’s scouts reported that it returned to the sea near the island. Sank into the abyss where his people never go.”

Regina blinked at her. “I’ve only just realised I can feel my feet.”

Snow laughed, pressing a cup of something warm into her hands. “I’ll tell you again when you’re more yourself. Drink.”

It was broth, not tea, but it was warm and soothing. When it hit her stomach Regina remembered hunger. A servant brought rice, still steaming, and more broth. She had to force herself not to cram it into her mouth; to use the little spoon instead of her fingers. 

Snow continued to speak to her, repeating what Regina might have missed. Pan’s army was massing on the north end of his island. The creature came from the depths southeast of Qin and moved quickly. It had hit two more cities while Regina had been recovering, and the next was large, if it followed the pattern. 

“Henry?”

“He’s fine. He’s with Triton’s girls, in the city, safe from the war.”

“War?”

“It seems inevitable now. Triton cannot tolerate Pan raising such a creature in his borders, nor marching some kind of army across the sea. The Emperor of Qin has left his capital, his navy is assembling. Pan’s creature, that horrible shadow, cannot be allowed to keep attacking. Thousands of people have already died.”

“Has anything hurt it?” Regina wiped her mouth with the napkin provided with her rice. “Other than me.”

“No. Not cannon fire, nor anything Triton’s people have thrown at it.”

“I don’t suppose the Emperor of Qin has an army of sorcerers to throw at it?” 

Snow flattened the map out on the bed. “He has some. None of them are as good as you, apparently. Though they’ve been able to help me with translating.”

“They’re here?” She looked around again, remembering she had no idea where here was. Snow had told her, but everything blurred together. Her head throbbed.

“You brought us to the summer palace where Emma took you on your date. It turned out the bureaucrat it belongs to was here this time, and he’s been very interested in someone so powerful she could teleport a ship into his river. He didn’t have any sorcerers with him initially, and I couldn’t say anything to explain until Hook was well enough, then Hook translated for us until a sorcerer arrived.” 

Snow poured her some tea and handed it to her. “The Emperor of Qin would like to meet you, when he arrives.”

“He’ll have to wait until we’ve saved-“

“Our family,” Snow finished for her. 

“Right.” It was a different blend of tea, something more bracing, less soothing. Her stomach churned, now ready to protest the food she’d forced down it. Regina set her tea down. Snow’s hand was instantly on her shoulder. 

“Are you all right?”

“Emma’s baby doesn’t think I should have eaten anything.”

Snow rubbed her back. “I don’t think there’s any black magic here. Must just be hormones.”

“I haven’t eaten in four days, you’d think I’d get a break.”

“What do you want to do?”

Regina shut her eyes. “Go back to being unaware of everything.”

“I think we should go back up the mountain,” Snow said, still rubbing her back. “If that yao grass allowed Rumplestiltskin teleport back to our land, perhaps you could use it to teleport us to Neverland or to Triton’s city. It’ll take us days to sail out there. Weeks if we have to return to Neverland.”

Digging her hands into the sheets, Regina sighed. “I’ve never teleported that far. Even with the grass, I wouldn’t want--“

“We’re going together,” Snow said. Using the arm on her back, she hugged Regina close. “Emma would never forgive me if you got into trouble alone.”

“You are aware that trying to teleport that far could lead both of us to an unpleasant, unmarked grave?”

Snow smiled. “No, it won’t.” 

That eternal, undying optimism was somehow mildly comforting directed at her. 

“We’ll have to deal with the guardian.”

“You and Emma bested him. I’ve heard he has a few less heads than the last time you faced him.” Snow dropped her hand from Regina’s back and held her arm, still soothing her. “I’m not Emma, but I can hold my own in a fight. If you distract him, I can get the yao grass, then we can leave and go find them.”

Regina nodded, her stomach finally starting to still. Perhaps it was just the shock of having something in it again after so long. “I do have a score to settle with the beast.”

Snow smiled again, but there was steel in her eyes. “Good. As soon as you’re up to it then.” She left the bed, off to explain their plan or find her armour.

“Snow?”

She turned back, her head tilted in curiosity. “Need something?”

“You didn’t have to. What you did, it could have--“

“You’ve never really wanted to kill me,” Snow said, brushing it off. 

“You still didn’t need to--“

“Emma loves you. I will do anything in the world to keep you safe.” 

Regina nodded, deciding against trying her legs just yet. She lay back, sitting up on the pillows. Snow walked back over, arranging them for her. 

“Besides, it seems I’ve always had more than enough love.”

Staring at her, Regina watched her eyes. “Even for me.”

Snow sat for a moment, insinuating herself on Regina’s bed, just as she had as a little girl. Now she was the one who stroked Regina’s hair and smiled in comfort. “I’ve always loved you. It’s nice to allow myself to feel that again.” 

They had come full circle. Snow was the one smiling at Regina, patient and maternal in a way Cora never was and Regina had lied to be. 

She lowered her hand to just above Regina’s stomach, letting it hover as if she were not quite willing to push Regina that far. “You’re carrying my granddaughter.”

Her own hand moved almost clumsily, clutching Snow’s fingers and pulling them down. Snow’s ring glinted on her finger and she knew Snow had seen it. She hadn’t said anything, but Regina suspected it was adding to her smile. 

“Can we keep her safe? Can we save her mother? Her grandfather?”

“You burned a hole in the demonic shadow creature, Regina. You made it flinch. If it can flinch, it can feel fear. I think it’s time we save everyone, don’t you?” 

Warmth rushed through her, kneading her doubts as if it could chase them away. Perhaps it could. Love was on her side now and that was an truly odd place to be.

* * *

One of Pan’s little minions spread something green across the burns on her face again and Emma bared her teeth at him, making him shrink back. They never spoke, these Lost Ones. They came, left food, tended their injuries and left with no more than a grunt of recognition. Perhaps Pan had done something to them, taking some of their humanity. There was never a glint of anything in their eyes and even screaming at them only made them flinch a little.

The green goo did seemed to be healing the burns on David’s face, and Emma’s skin itched more than it hurt. The sun had gone down again, leaving them in near darkness in the hut they’d been left in. There were ropes on their arms and legs, usually left loose enough, but drawn tight whenever the minions came in. 

Five days. Five days they’d been prisoners and Emma had sworn she’d never get locked up again. Her magic was still gone and as much as she and David wanted to rush their captors, they hadn’t the chance. 

The food was all right, roast meat and raw fruit. Their captor obviously wanted them healthy for some reason. They even got a fresh bucketful of water each day to bathe and the hole in the corner of the hut didn’t stink too badly. 

They had no idea what was happening in the outside world. Was Henry safe? Where had Regina taken the ship? Had it drained her too far? Was she safe? Was Snow with her?

David, blessed with Snow’s optimism, knew they were alive and trusted that they would come for them. 

“Snow will find us and Regina, well, you saw what she did. Perhaps we’re lucky she’s on our side so far.”

“So far?” Emma sagged in her ropes, ready to be released now that she had been covered in green goo yet again. “You do know that’s my fiancee you’re talking about losing to the dark side.”

“What?” David tugged his own ropes then tumbled forward as they let up. “You what?”

“I proposed to her,” she said. Dropping to the reeds on the floor, she rubbed her wrists. “Thought you knew. Mom gave me the ring and everything.”

“What ring? Her ring?”

Emma set down the piece of pineapple she’d just reached for. “Yeah, she said you two agreed--“ She glanced at his hand. “You got wedding rings and she said there were some traditions she wanted us to be able to hang on too.”

“That was my mother’s.”

“And you gave it to my mother, who gave it to me.”

David rubbed the ropes on his wrists, sitting across from her. “To give to the--“

“No,” Emma cut him off. “No Evil Queen crap from you. She’s Regina. I’m marrying her. That’s that, Dad.”

He smiled. “You sound like your mother.”

“Good.”

“What did she say? When she gave you the ring?” He seemed curious now, not angry. 

Emma picked up the pineapple again. No reason to refuse food that was offered, not when they’d need to fight to get out of here. 

“She said that you’d agreed to give it to me, to give to Regina, because she thought, well, she thought I was going to such trouble to set up a date for Regina and me because I was going to propose. I wasn’t, I mean, not then when I set it up. I just thought it would be nice to have a date, however it would work in this world. Mom thought I was going to ask Regina to marry me, and she got all flustered and I took the ring with me, not really thinking I’d use, then I did.” 

She spat pineapple rind out of the open wall of the hut, towards the jungle. “I didn’t know you’d said no.”

“Your mother didn’t ask me.”

Emma took another bite and waited for him to finish. 

“She forgives faster than I do.” David shrugged.

“Apparently so.”

“I have nothing against Regina--“

“Uh-huh.”

“She killed people.”

“So did you, so did mom and Mr. Goldystiltskin, or whatever his name is. No one goes around calling him the ‘evil Dark One’.”

Her father shook his head. “It’s different.”

“Has she killed anyone since we’ve come back?”

He started to say something, but Emma cut him off. 

“Look. I get that it’s fucked up. I totally get that the three of you have some seriously messed up issues going on, but I love her. I love her even though she used to be evil. I love her and she’s kind of having my kid and I’m going to do this right this time. I want to be with my kid, and do the two parents thing. You and Mom can do it too. You can hold our baby and do the doting grandparents thing and roll your eyes at Regina because she’s your daughter-in-law, but I’m marrying her.”

He sat across from her, filthy, with nearly a week’s worth of beard that was getting more scraggly by the day, and nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“You love her. That’s always been enough in this family. I threw away a kingdom for love, I think I can learn to forgive the past for love too.”

Emma handed him a piece of pineapple. “You really mean it?”

“I probably even would have agreed with the ring thing if I’d been asked.”

“I can’t believe she didn’t ask you.”

“Your mother’s a ‘forgiveness is better than permission’ kind of woman.”

Emma smirked, juice running down through the dirt on her chin. “Me too.”

“You’re lucky, Emma. Getting another chance at raising a child.” That sorrow was back, soft in his face. 

“You and mom are still young.” She almost couldn’t believe what she was saying. It would be so weird. “You can have another kid too. Hell, have a couple. I think Henry’s had enough only childness to last him a lifetime.”

“You want our children to grow up together?”

Nodding, she reached for the melon. “Why not? We’re all kind of the same age, aren’t we? Give or take a few cursed decades. I’m assuming I kind of have to move in with you, don’t I?”

“You are the heir to the throne.”

That was going to be weird, no matter how big the castle was. “Okay, so, we’ll just need a big playroom. Baby Trouble and the babies Charming can totally hang out together. I hear little kids just love having other kids to drool on.” 

“You’d want that?” 

“Yeah? I guess.” She tugged the ropes that bound her for enough slack to stretch her arms a little. “I think so. I know it’s been weird being on a tiny little ship, but I like being with you guys. I like it when we all sit around and talk about nothing in the tiny little galley. I like when you and mom and Regina are all civil with each other and we sit down, without anyone storming off or reaching for weapons.”

“It has been nice.” He smiled his dad smile, not his prince smile. “Getting to know you, even getting to know Regina. I don’t have the history with her that your mom does. I’ve only known her after she was queen.” 

“Mom really liked her once.”

“She did.”

“So we’ll work on it. I’ll try to get over the fact that my dad is like a week older than me and you can get over the fact that my fiancee has a pretty brutal track record. We’ll get good at weird.”

He squeezed her shoulder. “I’d like that.”

“Good. Now, tell mom through your psychic connection that it’s time to get with the finding stuff. I would like to shower this week.” 

“I don’t know where you’re going to find a shower.”

She handed him half the grapes. “Fine. An ocean. A river. Something reasonably warm and wet. My hair’s probably trying to form ropes.”

After they finished eating, when the sun sank, they lay on the reeds together in the dark, listening to the insects. It was warm, even at night, and the Lost Ones didn’t seem to have much of a nightlife. 

“Are you nervous?”

“About being trapped in the jungle, without magic?” Emma asked. “Yeah. I didn’t think I’d gotten so used to it, but now I feel empty. Kind of lost.”

“We’ll get it back.” David went quiet again. 

There was a cricket out there who seriously wanted to be squashed for singing so loudly. 

“That wasn’t what you were asking, was it?” Emma realised, reaching for his arm. Her fingers found skin and his breathing was too soft to be sleep. 

“I meant your impending motherhood.” David followed her fingertips, taking her hand. 

“You’re thinking about that?”

“Snow and Regina will save us. We just need to wait for them.” 

“‘I will always find you’?” 

“It’s how we work, Emma. Though, it’s always nice to have some time when I know exactly where she is, I know she’ll find us. I imagine having Regina along will help.”

That was progress. The ocean hissed against the sand. It was so peaceful it was infuriating. Maybe her father was right. Focusing on something else and just trusting that they’d be found was probably nicer than worrying about where her magic had gone and if Regina was all right.

“I guess I feel like pregnancy’s the easy part. I know what its like. I did it. Awhile ago, but I did it.”

“It must be strange being on the other side.”

“Part of me wishes it were me because I keep thinking it was easier for me and I--“

“Hate seeing her sick.”

“Yeah. I mean, she’s Regina. I don’t think she’s even mentioned having a headache, then she almost dies and I fuck up and knock her up while I’m trying to save her.”

“Emma--“

“I’m not watching my language. I’m almost thirty.”

“I don’t think a baby is a fuck up.”

She should have found a way not to giggle but Prince Charming saying ‘fuck’ was too much. 

“We didn’t talk about it. We weren’t even dating. I’m really lucky she’s okay with it.”

He nudged her with his elbow. “She seems more than okay with it.”

“She’s happy.”

“So it’s definitely not a fuck up.”

She narrowed her eyes at the moon overhead. “Now you’re just messing with me.”

“No, no. I, well I once got away with saying such things. No one cares how clean the mouth of a shepherd is. I might have been quite good at cursing when the goats got out.”

“You had goats?”

“And sheep, a few cows.”

“So my mom ran around the woods, being a bandit, and my dad used to tuck the goats in at night.” Emma rolled over onto her side, still holding his hand. 

“I never asked to be a prince.”

“Oh you and me both.” She sighed, still wishing she could shut up that damn cricket. 

“It does kind of grow on you. At least, it did me. I suppose Regina will help you with that too. She’s quite practiced at being regal.”

“Yeah she is. I’m going to be the scrubby heir to the throne with the incredibly beautiful and cultured consort or queen or what would she be?”

“I’m to be the king-consort so I imagine she would be the queen-consort when you ascend to the throne.”

“I’ve got a whole set of social workers who would be shitting bricks to know I was ascending anything but the line between misdemeanour and felony.”

“Perhaps they’d be happy to know they were wrong about you.”

Emma snorted her disbelief. “I was wrong about me.”

“You’re a good mother, Emma. Your child is fortunate.”

“No but about Regina?”

“She is many things but she’s been a good mother to Henry. Perhaps having this child with you will calm her fears about losing what she loves.”

“If you figure that out how that works, you let me know.”

Reeds cracked as he switched positions. Sleeping on the earth was making the pirate mattress seem pretty luxurious.

“You’re similar in that way. You’ve both lost so much.”

“Maybe that’s why we fit.”

“I lost my father, but I had a mother who loved me. Snow had two parents when she was small and her father most of her life. We would lay awake at night, much like this, when you were growing within her and wonder how we’d been so lucky to get to raise our child together. We were going to try so hard with you.”

Her old anger at being abandoned clashed with the all too poignant truth that she’d been so loved. Her parents loved her every bit as much as she had ever dreamed they did, and more so. It ached that she’d missed out on it but she had them now and they both adored her, but it was still so weird. She was the unloved, the unwanted, the imperfect and she’d built walls to keep herself safe within that. She didn’t care.

Now she loved so much her magic was pouring out of her fingertips. When it wasn’t mysterious gone and probably nabbed by the hideous shadow, which was really fucking unfair. 

“You’re going to spoil my kid rotten, aren’t you?”

David laughed into the darkness. “You can’t possibly imagine.”

Emma thought of the nursery she’d never slept in and realised he was probably right. She had no idea what the royal treatment was for a kid. It was probably damn good Regina was so strict, or the kid would be a terror. 

Their kid.

The kid they’d have since day one, who wouldn’t know about curses or think she was crazy, or ever, ever feel abandoned. 

“They’ll find us,” David reminded her. “They’ll always find us.”

* * *

She was pushing herself by taking on the monster so soon. Regina had been on her feet all of half a day, but she needed Emma back. Her magic had its strength back and Snow could do the running around. She only had to stand there and fry the creature until all his heads were stumps. 

They only had the dregs of a plan. Pop in, grab the grass, slay the beast, but that was all they needed. Regina teleported them in, their horses safely back from the mountain. Snow fired a quick succession of arrows at the monster as it uncoiled.

Regina drew up fire and then came at it, hard. 

Snow was deadlier than Emma and had a far better honed killing instinct. She took out two heads with arrows through the eyes and the creature turned on her, wanting her dead as much as it wanted to wrap its teeth around Regina.

It bent low, reaching its stinking jaws for Snow as she rolled past the pool of acid.

Regina lifted acid, turning it into a net and dragging it through the air. The creature lunged for Snow, and its remaining heads began to melt, coated in the acid Regina had put in front of it. 

It screamed, writhing so that its huge coils shook the earth. 

“Get the grass!” she yelled, but Snow was already ripping up handfuls. 

She drew fire into her hands and finished it, scorching and burning until the air stank of death. Snow drew her sword and lopped off each of the heads, leaving oozing stumps behind. 

“Just in case,” she said, breathing hard. She wiped ichor from her sword. 

Regina took a few handfuls of the golden, healing grass as well. It never hurt to be prepared. Snow handed over the green grass and Regina strode over to the jade bowl that had once held the pearl. She rubbed the grass in, using a stone to mash it into pulp. She poured in some water, turning it to soup and scooped it up with her hand. 

It had a crisp, almost spicy flavour to it, like fresh arugula. She drank several handfuls of the grassy water, spitting the pulp onto the ground. Snow took the rest, filling a bottle. 

“Ready?” 

“You are aware that this may not work.”

Snow nodded, reaching for Regina’s waist to hold on. “If it doesn’t, we’re all kind of fucked.” 

“Princess, such language.“

“Just take us.”

Regina took a last look at the defeated monster and smiled. He’d devour no more horses. She shut her eyes, let Snow picture the merfolk castle and took them through.

* * *

Henry and Ariel were on their way back from lessons. Apparently an impending war did not remove Ariel’s responsibilities, nor his, now that he’d been given sanctuary in Triton’s kingdom. They swam through the main square, trying not to get in anyone’s way as they headed home. They had to go back to their room where’d they stay, waiting. 

His grandma had called a few times on his shell. His mom was going to be okay, it just took a lot of work to heal herself. His mom had actually called that morning and she sounded pretty normal so he was starting to think everything was going to be okay. Snow and Regina could save Emma and David and they’d finally get home to the Enchanted Forest. 

He could tell them about the shells later, when they were together and not as likely to be so mad. 

Smoke erupted outward, pushing the water around it in a huge purple bubble. Ariel grabbed him, pulling him back, but he knew what that smoke was. 

His mom’s eyes were wide with panic as the water closed in. It was terribly deep and cold for humans and he swam for her. 

“It’s my mom and my grandma.” Henry shoved his amulet back, behind his head, then covered his mom’s mouth with his, bestowing the mermaid’s kiss. 

Ariel grabbed Snow, recognising her now that she was close. She kissed her too, the magic running over her. 

Then they could breathe. They were still all awkward in their wet clothes with their hair all funny but they were here. He held his mom tight, wrapping his tail around her legs. She squeezed him back just as tightly. 

“Henry. I’m so glad you’re safe.” Her voice sounded kind of weird underwater, but she was here.

His grandma hugged him too. “We need to see your father, Ariel. It’s important.”

Ariel nodded and brought one of her guards with a wave. “Would you take these two to my father please. It’s a matter of some urgency.”

The guard nodded and extended her arm. “This way.” 

Henry followed them, wanting to spend as much time as possible with his mom before he was sent off again. She held his hand, smiling at him, then stopped.

“Henry, you can’t come with us.”

“But I want to help.”

“We need to talk about war,” his grandma said. “I know you’re brave, but this isn’t for you yet. Go, wait with Ariel. We’ll come find you when we’re done.”

“We love you,” Regina added. “We’re so glad you’re safe and that you got help, but this is something we need to do for you, not with you, Henry.”

He just wanted to be with them, to tell his mom how sorry he was, how it was all his fault Emma had been taken. There wasn’t time. She had her serious face and he couldn’t--

He nodded, forcing down his tears was easy with all the water between them. Water always hid them. “Okay. Come see me when you’re done?”

“Of course.”

He hugged her again, still careful with his amulet. “If you’re okay, is the--?” He had to ask to be nice but he still wasn’t that thrilled about the idea. 

His mom smiled at him, losing her serious face and actually looking happy. “She’s fine.”

“She?”

His mom blushed, actually blushed so that her face went pink. She never did that. “Emma always says she. There’s no way of knowing until she gets here.”

“Huh.” He tried to picture that. A brother would have be better, he’d thought, but Emma always did everything with him so maybe Emma’s daughter would do just as much stuff. 

“Okay,” he said, and let them go with Ariel’s guard. 

Ariel touched his arm. “They’ll be okay. My dad’s been really busy preparing. He has a whole plan to deal with Pan the shadow-thief.”

“He has Emma, my other mom.” All the joy he’d had seeing Regina faded as he thought about that. Pan was evil, really evil. “And my granddad.”

“They’ll get them back. They’re pretty powerful, aren’t they?”

He’d heard the other merfolk talking about how his mom had teleported the whole ship away from Pan and his monster: a whole ship. She’d saved Snow and herself and now she was going to save Emma.

She would save her with magic, because his mom was a superhero. Maybe a little more X-Men than Spiderman, but a superhero. Maybe he’d been wrong but magic had a price, didn’t it? What was the price of saving people? Was she going to be sick again? She’d been sick for days.

He tried to keep from crying, because Ariel was here and she probably didn’t cry, but his eyes hurt and his chest stung. 

“It’s my fault they got taken. I put the shells in their room and maybe if they’d had magic, they could have fought off the monster.” He rubbed his eyes and Ariel watched him.

“Do you really think they could have? The monster is pretty horrible. My father’s really worried about it.”

“Maybe.” He still felt awful and his mom wasn’t mad, which made it that much worse. She didn’t know it was him. He hadn’t said anything and she’d been busy. Maybe she’d been so busy she hadn’t taken the time to find out why her magic hadn’t worked. 

Ariel still hovered next to him, smiling and waiting for him to cheer up. “Come on, Flounder said he’d try to visit us today. Maybe he’ll have some news.” 

Flotsam and Jetsam, not Flounder, were waiting in their room. Henry didn’t know how they’d gotten in but the two eels swam around each other, waiting for him. They wanted him to come with them.

“I don’t want to.”

“Poor boy,” they hissed. “So confused. Our mistress can help you.”

“I don’t think I want her help.”

Ariel nodded. “The shells made things worse, not better.”

“Our mistress can save your mother,” the eels whispered.

“She’s here--“ Henry started, then realised. “Emma?”

“The Pan has her. Ursula can get her from him. She wants to help you.”

Ariel frowned, nervously playing with her red hair. “I don’t know if you should listen to them, Henry. The shells made things worse, not better.”

“Ursula can get my mother. I have to try, don’t I?”

“I don’t want you to go alone,” she said, swimming up next to him. They shared a look. It was probably wrong to go with the eels but he had to save Emma. 

He was kind of happy that he didn’t have to go alone. It was easier to be brave with someone near him. 

They followed the eels out of the palace, sneaking along the back ways that no one swam. Everyone was so busy about the war, no one really saw them. They swam a long way in silence, the eels ahead of them with their glowing eyes. 

Ursula was just outside the palace, waiting in the darkness. 

“Oh, my darlings. I was so afraid you wouldn’t come.”

“The shells went all wrong,” Henry said. “Emma was captured and my mom got hurt.”

“I know. I’m so sorry. I thought they’d be able to fight off Pan’s creature so much better with magic but it’s stronger than I thought. Much stronger. I was trying to be so good and live within my punishment but it appears I need magic to be able to help anyone.” A shell glowed bright blue at her throat. Was it her magic? Hadn’t hers been golden before? He couldn’t remember but something about the blue bothered him. 

“Let me make it up to you,” Ursula said, reaching for him with her tentacles. “I’ll help you save Emma and your grandfather.”

“How?”

“Pan wants a very special boy. You, Henry. If you come with me he’ll trade you for the adults because he has no use for them. He only took them to get to you.”

“Me?” Henry looked at Ariel, trying to figure out what was going on. “Why would he want me?” Greg and Tamara had never told him why Pan wanted him, now they were zombie slaves. 

“Didn’t he tell you before?” 

Henry shook his head. 

“Pan wants a body. He wants to walk the earth before he covers it in darkness. Or was it after? I can never remember.” Ursula waved her hand lazily, as if she were talking about something simple, instead of monsters covering the earth. 

“A body?”

“He’s a body without a shadow. He’ll take a body with a shadow and replace it, making the body his slave. It sounds terrible but it won’t happen to you, Henry. You’re just a distraction. I can deal with him.”

“Don’t go near him,” Ariel warned. “Just stay back. My father will defeat Pan.”

“He might hurt Emma first. I have to save her. It’s my fault.”

“So you’ll come with me?” 

Henry nodded, grim. “Ariel stays here.”

“What?” Ariel looked at him, almost angry at being left behind. 

“Look, Pan’s dangerous. If you stay here and I don’t come back, then tell my mom. Tell her everything. Tell her I’m sorry and I love her.”

Ariel’s face fell. She shook her head. “I can’t.”

“Please?” He begged, staring at her. She’d been his first real friend. She had to do this. 

“Okay.” She swam close and kissed his cheek before swimming quickly away. 

He barely had time to register that she’d kissed him before Ursula was teleporting them both away, somewhere above the water. She stood on her tentacles, as if they were a living black dress. His tail faded, replaced by his legs. 

They stood on the beach of Neverland, a hut near them, made of grass and reeds. 

“Come out Pan. I’ve got someone for you.” Ursula nearly sang the greeting and the leaves rustled. The shadow was coming.

He’d felt something familiar when they’d teleported. Something he knew. Ursula’s magic had felt like him, somehow. How could that be? He didn’t have magic. 

The Lost Ones dragged Emma and David out of the hut. They stood, both gagged and dirty. Their clothes hung ragged on them, but they were alive. 

“Henry!” Emma screamed through her gag and the Lost Ones punished her for making noise. Pan loomed over all them, watching. 

“I brought you the boy, just as you wanted. Give me the adults and you can have him.”

Emma struggled against the boys who held her, risking being punished again. 

“It’s all right,” he called back. They had a plan. 

The shell around Ursula’s neck glowed very bright blue and suddenly he remembered. Emma’s magic was blue. His mom’s was purple and Emma’s was blue. _That_ blue.

“The boy will go willingly if you hand over the adults,” Ursula said. 

Henry took a step forward, cutting the distance on the rocky beach. Pan reached for him, hungry and wanting. 

“Henry--“ Emma protested, spitting her gag from her mouth and the Lost Ones hit her again, knocking her quiet. 

David struggled, trying to get to her through the boys who held him. 

Henry took another step, moving closer to Pan. He was close to Ursula too, and the bright blue shell.

“Let them go,” Ursula said and the Lost Ones obeyed to her, pushing Emma and David towards Ursula’s feet. They had hit Emma too hard for her to keep her head up and David held her.

“You can have me,” he said to Pan. “Let them go.” This was what heroes did right? Gave themselves up, saved their families. He’d let Emma get captured because of the shells, because he’d been wrong and this was how he made it right.

He wondered if it would hurt. Greg and Tamara had both screamed as if they were being torn to pieces. He wanted to cry but it wouldn’t help. He had to be brave.

Pan’s cold hand touched his face, searching.

Then Henry was wet, immersed in seawater. A huge ball of it had risen from the sea and engulfed him. He’d seen that spell before. It was Emma’s spell. She’d been casting it with his mom.

Ursula had Emma’s magic. Not her own, but Emma’s. She’d stolen it and she’d used him to get it. 

Anger boiled inside of him as his legs turned back into a tail. 

Pan lurched away, squealing annoyance. Something was wrong. He didn’t want Henry anymore. 

“You don’t like him this way, do you?” Ursula leaned close, reaching into Henry’s bubble of water. She reached for his amulet and he reached for the shell. 

She wasn’t watching. She thought she’d won. She tugged and the chain holding his amulet broke. Henry only had to hold the shell because when she pulled away it shattered in his hand.

Blue burst from the fragments, so bright it blinded him and then rushed for Emma. Ursula screamed in anger and surprise, curling in on herself as if losing the shell had hurt her. With her concentration gone, the water left Henry lying on the beach and his legs didn’t come back.

He was stuck with his tail, lying uselessly on the beach. The bright blue magic sank into Emma, filling her up and making her glow. Ursula roared in frustration, grabbed Pan and then everything went weird.

Ursula pulled Pan in, holding the shadow tighter and tighter until he was in her mouth and then he was gone. Just gone, as if he’d been sucked into her. 

Emma stood up, glowing blue and brilliant. “Get away from my son.”

Magic lanced out from her hands, burning a nasty mark on Ursula’s bare shoulder and she ran, flipping into the deep. Pan was gone, sucked into her. The Lost Ones scattered, dropping the ropes that no longer held Emma. 

She magicked the ropes on David away and they both ran to him. 

“Henry--“ Emma said, her voice fading. His tail flopped on the beach over the shattered pieces of the amulet. She reached for him, covering him in her magic but he felt nothing. The tail was part of him now. 

“I’m sorry,” he said, because there was nothing else to say. He was sorry.

She hugged him, holding him close even though he was wet. “It’s all right. I love you and you’re safe. We’ll work the rest out later.”

“She’s gone,” David said. “Whoever she was.”

“Ursula. Ariel’s aunt. She tricked stole Emma’s magic and now she’s eaten Pan.”

“Which is bad.” Emma reached for David, taking his hand. “We need Regina and Snow.”

“They’re at the castle. Triton’s castle. They teleported in.”

“Can you?” David asked and Emma’s eyes grew big. 

“Me? All the way to the castle, with you?”

“You can do it,” Henry said, flexing his tail and wishing he was back in the water. Land felt so dry. “You’re a superhero, remember?”

“Thanks, kid.” Emma took a long look at him, then hugged him again. “Can you think of the castle really really well?”

“Sure, I’ve been basically living there.”

Emma reached for David, holding his arm and grabbed Henry. “Okay. If Henry thinks about the castle and you and I think about the people we love, we should be able to do this.”

“What happens if a teleport goes wrong?” Henry asked.

Emma shrugged. “Something pretty fucking bad?”

David nudged her and Emma sighed. 

“Henry, we might die, forget I said that.”

He nodded and held her close. He pictured the castle as well as he could, filling in all the details. David and Emma shut their eyes and then--

It was very dark, so dark it was like his eyes were gone. Then he felt the familiar sea. Emma had done it. Beside him, Emma and David were both starting to choke underwater and again he kissed one of his mothers and let her breathe. He kissed David too and the guards came, surrounding them. 

Ariel swam out and grabbed him, hugging him tight. 

All the adults were talking at once. Something about a ship and a monster. David and Emma both got that look that meant they were about to leave.

“We’ll be back,” Emma said. “We love you.”

David tugged her sleeve. “Emma, what are you thinking?”

“Regina has Snow’s ring. It was enchanted so you could find her. If we teleport to that, we’ll find them.” 

David blinked at her. “You think that’ll worked?”

Emma shook her head, her hair floating around her in wisps. “Maybe? I teleported us here, and that’s farther than I’ve ever done it. If my magic works on love and that ring was part of a true love thing, I bet I can find it even easier than here.” 

“Henry,” she smiled at her. “We’ll be back.” Then Emma and David were gone in more blue smoke and only the sea filled where they were.

Ariel touched his shoulder. “They’ll be okay.”

“Yeah,” he said, wishing again he was old enough that he got to go on the secret missions, instead of just being safe. 

“Henry, your amulet--“

“It broke.” Which was true. Ursula had broken it to distract Pan and it had given him time to get Emma’s magic back. He still hadn’t told anyone it was his fault. 

“But you’re--“

“Yeah.” He tried to smile. Would he never have legs again? What did it mean that this was now his true form? “I suppose we’ll get to hang out a lot now.”

“It won’t be bad.” She smiled back, trying to be cheerful. “My sisters are all nice and we’ve always wanted a brother and your moms can come visit us lots and--“

“It’s okay,” he said, squaring his shoulders. “It’s kind of nice to be done with magic. No amulet, just me. Me with a tail.”

“You have a nice tail.”

He was in so much trouble. He was almost lucky there was a war because he was never getting ungrounded again. If they even had grounded in this world. Maybe he’d go straight to prison for what he’d done with the shells or they’d make him stay in a big tank like a giant fish.

Ariel touched him again, guiding him back towards where they were supposed to be. Henry looked up at the silvery surface and wondered what his family was doing. Would they be safe? War was really bad. Terrible even. He was stuck hiding like a baby while everyone he loved was in danger. 

He shut his eyes and wished, really wished, that everyone would come back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Internet sooner than I thought! Less of a cliffhanger this chapter, but the big battle's the next one.


	13. Chapter 13

“Funny how you can be on the other side of the world and feel like home.” Snow adjusted the sword at her belt and stared out at the sea.

Regina stood at her side, her fingers resting on the leather of her armour. “I didn’t know naval battles were a part of your history.” 

Snow straightened her back, filling her armour. She had grown into so much more than the bandit princess Regina had once hunted. In her eyes, Regina could see the queen she was going to be. “It’s not the ships, it’s the army. The weight of it behind us. You can feel the anticipation, can’t you?” 

Allowing herself to smile, Regina nodded. The tension on the flagship had a hearbeat like living thing. The Emperor’s army was vast and disciplined, standing in neat rows on the deck all around them, waiting for the creature to emerge. “I don’t remember us ever being on the same side.”

“Maybe that’s the part that feels like home.”

Regina fidgeted with the ring on her finger: Snow’s ring. “You can’t actually be nostalgic for something that never was.”

“Perhaps it’s just hope.”

“Right before a battle?”

“I think that’s when you need the most hope, don’t you?” 

Regina checked the daggers hidden in her boots, then made herself stand up straight. Nervousness was unbecoming and nothing she could check would make her any more or less ready. 

“Hope is also something I’m not accustomed to counting on my side.” 

Snow looked at her for a long time, as if she saw something Regina had not intended to show in her expression. “I’m sure you’ll adapt.” 

One of the generals approached them, inclining his head politely. “The Emperor wishes to speak with you.”

“Of course,” Snow replied. 

As the head of state, such as the former town of Storybrooke could be called a state, she’d been taking the lead in their negotiations. It suited Regina, who spent most of their discussions saying little and simply being present to provide a magical perspective. She saw all their plotting as futile. The shadow creature had only been wounded by a spell it had nearly knocked her out to cast. Perhaps if Emma was here and they worked together, but even that was far fetched. 

It was likely they faced all of their deaths. Once that would have filled her with a kind of peace. Snow White, the weak, spoiled little girl that had ruined her life would die, likely before Regina did. 

Yet now Regina wanted her to live. Perhaps that was the last indignity. Watching Snow face her death now that she’d finally realised that the world was a bit brighter for Snow’s presence in it. 

She remained a step behind Snow, not out of deference, but rather to send the message that Snow was the leader, better not to confuse the issue with the many titles they could have thrown around. 

The Emperor’s flagship was a huge warship, much larger than any she’d ever stood on before, certainly the largest she’d ever seen. It held countless archers, warriors and cannon, but all of it seemed empty. All the collected lives were only here to be tossed onto the sacrificial pyre. She’d humour the man, he was leader of a great empire, but his death was as likely as Snow’s and her own. 

She could run, take the baby within her and flee all of the carnage, except that somehow her lot had been thrown in on the side of good, and good made heroic stands against great evils. Good didn’t run.

Sitting on his throne, in a faint cloud of incense, the Emperor was a withered, ancient man who barely filled his ornate robes. His first son sat forward of him on the raised wooden steps, a man far older than Regina, with the hints of grey already in his black hair. The man and woman below him were the Emperor’s first grandson and first granddaughter, both grown. 

Names had been exchanged but the Emperor’s was not spoken. Instead, he had his many titles. 

Snow bowed low and Regina followed her, kneeling on the wood. She knelt to very few in her time, but from what she’d seen of the ancient Emperor so far, he had earned the devotion of his people. She would be polite.

Servants set fragrant tea before them in small cast iron cups. 

“You are ready, Forest Queen?” 

Snow nodded, keeping her eyes low as she’d been bidden. She raised them as high as the son of the Emperor, making sure her station came across without being threatening. 

“We are, your imperial majesty.”

The Emperor waved to them and lifted his cup of tea. “How do you prepare for death in your culture?”

Regina swallowed her chuckle and drank her tea. At least someone else understood how futile all this planning was considering what lay before them. 

“We spend time with our families, often we try to make peace with those who we have wronged in our lives.” Snow drank also, holding the cup with both hands. “My people often try to meet death with a clear conscience.” 

The Emperor nodded to her, but turned his eyes to Regina. 

“Do you feel death is certain?”

She looked back, aware of the breach in protocol but beyond caring. “Yes.”

“Then we are in agreement, sorceress.” He waved one hand to his guards. “Allow them to approach the throne, and leave us.”

The guards stood back, clearing a path to the base of the Emperor’s throne. His son lingered, but the Emperor dispatched him and his grandchildren with a wave. 

“You are without fear of me.” The old man was more insightful than he had first appeared. 

“Forgive me, but between your imperial majesty and the creature out there, I’m afraid my fear is all spoken for.” 

His dry laughter echoed in the large chamber. “Wise of you, sorceress. Forgive me for my bluntness, but our time grows short and much must be accomplished. My own spellcasters tell me that the greatest power lies in sacrifice.”

“That’s consistent with what I’ve been told.” She’d needed to sacrifice her father’s heart for the dark curse, the most powerful spell she’d ever cast, and it had been Henry’s sacrifice that undid it. 

“Do you know what my land thinks of the emperor?” 

“You are the son of heaven,” Snow said for her. “The descendant of the dragon.” 

“Let us hope this is indeed true. My sorcerers refused my request, so it shall fall to you. Perhaps it is best that you have no fear of me.” He gestured to a box of dark wood at his feet. “Please, open it.”

Regina knelt again, this time curious. Inside the box on a bed of black silk lay a jade dagger, beautifully inlaid with gold and gemstones, with the head of a dragon as the hilt. The dragon’s eyes seemed to be watching her, and the gems that made them were like none she’d ever seen. 

“Take it.”

She lifted it by the blade and the chill of the stone filled her hand. When she moved the hilt to her palm, the dagger was suddenly warm, warmer than her own flesh. 

“It is said in our most ancient of legends that a dragon is the most powerful creature to exist under heaven. None have been seen since times long past, but this dagger has existed since those times. This dagger was once used to summon the dragon with blood. A barbaric custom that may yet have some truth to it, if we are fortunate.” 

“How will fortune favour us?” Regina asked, lifting her eyes from the ancient dagger. 

“Huangdi, the first emperor, was said to rise after his death as a dragon. If we are to defeat this monster now. We shall need another dragon.” 

Snow understood before Regina did, horror tightening her voice. “You can’t--“

“I have many grown sons, and the Eldest Prince is ready to assume my throne. I am old. I have lived my life for my people. You shall assist me in dying for them.”

Regina nearly dropped the dagger. “You want me to kill you so you can be reborn as a dragon?”

“This blade summons the dragon. It has been kept in the deepest vaults for centuries and has been long stained in blood. If the myths of the darkness are true, perhaps that darkness can be kept at bay through sacrifice.”

“Your imperial majesty--“ Regina began to protest. 

Ancient hands gripped her own, wrapping around her fingers like old leather. “You feel its warmth, don’t you?”

She knelt again, ready to replace the dagger in its case, but it was warm in her hand, as if it had been left in the sun. 

“Only the powerful can wield this blade. If you had not been worthy, you would not have been able to lift it from its case.”

“Is there more to the spell?” Regina asked, still staring at the eyes of the dragon hilt. It was watching her, she was now certain. 

He pulled a scroll from his sleeve. The parchment was so old that the musty scent of it carried through the incense. “I believe you have the ability to read this.”

Regina unrolled it, then handed it to Snow to hold open. The characters were far older than anything she’d seen, written in ink that had browned with age. Still holding the dagger, she rested her left hand on the parchment and let her mind fall silent. 

Compartmentalising the language she’d grown up with, she cleared the rest of her mind, creating the silence needed for a translation spell. As if they heard her and understood, the characters began to shift, rising from the parchment into the air. 

“Regina--“ Snow whispered. “Be careful.”

The ancient ink had the acrid, metallic scent of blood and she knew how it had been written and why the characters had browned. This was the oldest of magics, one so ancient that it had been worked in blood, because sacrifice was the true heart of power. The price of this spell had been paid in blood and would be paid again. 

The mist of the ink hung in the air, waiting to be part of her. 

“I can’t,” she said, shutting her eyes. “My body will reject it.” 

The Emperor watched her. “You were able to lift the dagger, none of my spellcasters could do as much as shift it in the box.” 

“The dagger is an instrument, yes it has been used to kill, but it’s not dark.” Regina took a step back from the ink in the air. She could feel it, as if that too were watching her. The spell was hungry for a host, eager to be imbibed again. “The price of this will be higher than one life.”

Her stomach knotted, then began to churn in that all too familiar discomfort. She took another step back and Snow let the scroll roll closed. 

“I can’t do as you ask.” The dagger warmed further in her hand, almost too hot to hold. 

“Regina--“ Snow said again, this time more urgent. “Your nose.” 

Lifting the hand with the dagger in it to her upper lip, she brought it away bloody. The faint itch on her upper lip had been blood. Setting the dagger down, Regina scrambled back from the case and Snow followed her. 

“I can’t--“

Dizzy suddenly, she caught Snow’s arm as she reached to clean the blood from her face. 

The Emperor shut the case. “Then I fear we are without hope.”

“Can’t you do it yourself?” Snow asked. Her spirit roused, she put herself between Regina and the dagger’s case. 

“She is the only one who has been able to stir the blade. The power within you is great, sorceress.” He sat back in his throne, the determination that had filled him failing. “I had hoped you would be enough.”

Snow guided her outside, all the way to the rail of the ship, far from the Emperor’s chamber. Regina clung to her, waiting for her head to still. The dagger was powerful, perhaps one of the most potent artefacts she’d ever held. 

Somehow Snow had a bandage, and she daubed at Regina’s face, trying to stop the blood that oozed from her nose. “I don’t think you and that dagger got along well at all.”

Holding Snow’s arms, Regina sank to the deck, lowering her head to her knees. “I could feel the spell. It had such force behind it. More than even dark curse.”

Snow waved over one of the guards and sent her for water. The bandage in her hand had soaked enough blood to be deep red. 

“Force isn’t always the answer.”

“How do you defeat a monster that blocks out the sun without force?” Regina tried to push Snow’s hands away, but she held her. 

“You’re still bleeding.”

Regina could taste the blood on her lips and the hand she lifted to ease Snow back trembled in the air. “It’s nothing.”

“You’re sweating, your nose is bleeding as if you’d been punched, and you’ve gone green. Nothing is not what this is.” Snow held the water up to her. “Drink. Spit it out if tastes too much like blood.” 

She drank, giving in. “What if it’s the only way?”

“We’ll find another way.”

“He was willing--“

Snow set the water down and took another bandage from the guard when the first one was too drenched in blood. “You said that spell would cost more than one life.”

Regina shut her eyes and let Snow wipe the sweat from her forehead. “It’s intense. I’ve never felt anything like that. Not even the dark curse was so--”

“Strong?”

“Eager.” Regina pulled her knees in, her armour creaking. “It wants to be cast.”

Snow rocked back, folding the bandage in her hand again to find a clean surface to hold against Regina’s nose. “That is an excellent argument for not casting it.” 

Dropping her voice so only Snow heard her despair, Regina thought of Emma and how if she died here, she’d never save her. “What are we going to do?” 

“Fight. Think of a better way. A way that doesn’t involve so much death. Sacrifice can’t just mean death, can it?”

“Death is the most final sacrifice, isn’t it?” Regina couldn’t think of anything. She imagined getting to her feet, taking the dagger from its case and making the Emperor his noble sacrifice. Her fingers itched to hold the dagger again, as if they missed the stone hilt.

Her stomach chose that instant to rise into her throat and Snow helped her to her feet. The tang of sea air was familiar now, but did nothing to soften the twisting of her guts. 

Snow’s look of sympathy suggested she’d kept nothing from her face and Regina resigned herself to again losing control to the changes in her body. 

Then the air tore, turning itself inside out. She whirled from the rail, knowing the sound, and two bedraggled, sodden figures held their feet on the Emperor’s deck. 

One was male, his face covered in a sandy beard. The other was a slim woman, tall, and nearly naked other than the flimsy shift that clung to her skin. 

“Regina?”

“Emma--“

A sea-soaked Emma wrapped her tight, holding her even in her armour as if she’d never let her go again. At her side, Emma’s parents wrapped each other in a similar desperate embrace, laughing and kissing. 

“You--“

“Pan took us, then Ursula killed him and we got away.” Emma’s hurried explanation made little sense, but her lips against Regina’s made up for the chaos. 

“You taste like blood,“ Emma said, concern darkening her face. 

“A little nosebleed,” Snow said, covering for her. “Nothing serious.” 

“You didn’t have an argument with one of the generals or anything?”

“No.” Regina held her close. Emma’s magic was back. It vibrated against Regina’s hands on her wet skin. “Your magic.”

“Ursula took it. Probably tried to take yours too, but mom stopped it before she got it off the ship.”

“Who’s Ursula?” Snow asked. 

“It’s a long story,” David answered. “Perhaps we could tell it while we change?” 

Snow, who had developed a rapport with the Emperor’s army, waved over one of the lieutenants that had spoken to them earlier. One who’d been enchanted with a translation spell to understand them. 

“We need--“

Emma released her grip on Regina, then waved her hands and Emma and David changed on the deck, their rags replaced with the armour that had been on Hook’s ship. They were both clean as well, though she’d left her father’s beard. 

“Got it, Mom. Thanks.”

The lieutenant backed away, bowing. 

“Emma--“ Snow took her from Regina’s arms gently, almost embracing both of them. “We missed you.”

“Looks like you got some new friends to make up for it.”

“This is the flagship of the Qin fleet,” Snow explained. She released her daughter and returned to her husband’s side. “We’ve united with Triton and the Emperor of Qin. Hopefully we can stop the creature before it hurts anyone else.”

“Ursula’s behind it,” Emma said. One of her hands dropped to Regina’s stomach, just for a moment, before she turned her attention to the battle ahead. “She’s some kind of octopus-mer-thing.”

“A cecaelia,” Regina volunteered.

“Thank you, miss latin scholar.” Emma rolled her eyes. “She defeated Pan. I think the creature was under his control, now it’s hers.”

“Defeated?” Snow asked.

“Ate,” David replied. He rested his hand on the hilt of his sword, drawing strength from the blade. “She absorbed him. Henry managed to distract her and release Emma’s magic so we could get away.”

“Henry?” The knot of panic in Regina’s throat pulled tight. “Is he all right?”

“In the merfolk city,” Emma promised. “Safe. He was very brave.”

“You let him?”

“We didn’t let him do anything,” Emma said. “He kinda got himself involved. He’s safe now.” There was something else, something sorrowful behind Emma’s eyes that Regina wanted to immediately get to the bottom of, but Emma shook her head. “He’s safe, Regina.” 

David brought them back to the moment. “We need to figure out how we’re getting back to him.”

Regina found Snow’s eyes. “Emma might--“

“No.” Snow’s tone cut. “She won’t.”

“I won’t what?”

Snow looked around and pulled them in closer, further from the soldiers. “The Emperor asked Regina to cast a spell for him.”

“What kind of spell?”

“One that gave her the nosebleed.”

Glaring at Snow, Regina realised Emma’s stare just as intense at her. “He has an ancient dagger, apparently it was once used to summon a dragon.” 

“He wants you to summon a dragon?” Emma repeated. “How would you, I mean, you can do that?”

Snow reached for Emma’s arm. “She can’t.”

Regina looked at the deck, then up at Emma’s loving expression. “The spell and the ceremonial dagger that are part of it made me ill.”

“Like dark magic ill?” 

“Not exactly--“ Regina began.

“Yes,” Snow finished. “The spell had a darkness to it. Regina, you felt it.”

“It was as if the spell were anxious,” Regina admitted. “Almost eager to be cast.”

“So that’s a big red warning sign right there.” Emma took Regina’s elbow. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Protesting did as much good as it always did with Emma. She took Emma’s concerned hand in her own. “The Emperor is right,” Regina insisted. “We need something potent on our side, like a dragon, if we have any hope of stopping this creature.”

Emma squeezed her fingers. “So our choices are certain death, or summoning a dragon through dark magic and then most likely certain, horrible, potentially dragon-involved death?” 

“Sounds like it,” David said.

“Great.” Emma fidgeted with Regina’s hand. “Another great day in our messed up, sadistic book-directed lives.” 

David searched for hope. The Charmings did not know how to give up, did they? “Maybe there’s another way to summon a dragon?” 

“Like in the story?” Emma’s face brightened with sudden inspiration. “A dragon that defeated the darkness.”

“What story?”

Now excited, Emma’s whole bearing shifted. “The one we heard in the market, remember? You had to translate for me and Henry. There was a great blackness, and a dragon came and ate it, or something.”

Regina struggled to recall. “A dragon just appeared?” 

“No, no.” Emma mumbled to herself, as if going over the story in her head. “The brother and sister were on a boat that was eaten by darkness. They used--“

The memory hit her like a sudden gust of fresh air after being underground. “They used a pearl to light their way out of darkness.”

Snow tugged a small bag out of one of her pockets, and opened it into Emma’s hand. “Like this one?”

“A dragon’s pearl,” Emma said. “Gold said it was a dragon’s pearl.” She shifted the pearl into Regina’s hands, wrapping her fingers around it. “It doesn’t seem eager to do anything?” 

Unlike the dagger, the pearl was pleasantly warm. Perhaps it had been near Snow’s skin. 

Regina shook her head. “It’s magical, but I have no idea how it works.”

“It has to be in darkness,” Emma remembered. “So we take it into the creature?”

Emma’s parents shared an expression of horror. 

“Into?”

Emma rolled the pearl in her hands. “The creature’s darkness, isn’t it?”

Regina sighed, leaning back against the rail behind her. This, if it were a plan, was nearly as bizarre as the Emperor’s and seemed just as unlikely to result in anything but all of their deaths. 

Emma believed. She had that glint of ridiculous hope that had carried her family through so many obstacles. Her parents would follow her because they loved her. Regina watched their faces as Snow and David silently exchanged worried glances, then nodded. They would work with Emma’s plan because they loved her.

Like she did, because love was wild, foolish and just naive enough to think overwhelming odds weren’t hopeless.

Death still breathed cold on the back of her neck, but somewhere in her heart, hope flickered. Stranger victories had come from less.

* * *

Emma turned the pearl over and over in her hands until Regina took it, just to stop her from fidgeting. There was nothing else to do but wait in the shade of the great ship’s sails. Scouts were all around the city next on the creature’s path of destruction. They would know as soon as any vessel saw darkness, but midday had come and gone without the creature. Did it come with the dawn? Was it waiting for night to fall? 

Unlike Emma, Regina held the pearl still. Emma traced her fingers along the back of Regina’s hand. 

“The last time I saw a dragon, it wasn’t really on my side.”

Regina caught Emma’s wandering fingers and held them with her empty hand. “Maleficent wasn’t a traditional beast.”

“Good. So a traditional dragon might be more friendly?”

Regina shrugged, barely shifting the armour on her shoulders. “Perhaps.”

“You don’t seem convinced.”

“Our least disastrous plan is based on a story we only half remember from a children’s puppet show show.” 

Emma nodded, focusing on the heat of Regina’s hand in hers. “Do you want me to try the Emperor’s dagger? Dark magic won’t hurt me. I could probably--“

“No.” Her rebuttal had a softness to it. “I’d rather you didn’t involve yourself in that kind of magic.” 

“What did it feel like?”

Finding her eyes, Regina looked straight into her. “When I first held the dark curse, the power of it was intense, like holding a live wire.” 

The shudder that ran through her at the mention of electricity made Emma wish she could just hold her, to hell with the army around them. 

“Just touching the parchment this was on made my fingers itch. It’s the kind of power that I used to want, more than anything. It wants to hurt. It craves suffering.”

“That’s the price?”

“It’s incredibly powerful magic.” Regina sank down to one of the archers’ benches on the deck. “Magic that potent has a great price.”

“Mom said the Emperor was willing to pay it.”

“Being willing doesn’t change the nature of that kind of sacrifice.” Regina stared at the deck just in front of her boots. “My father--“

Emma moved to soothe her, to remind her that she knew, but Regina looked up, her expression dark with grief. 

“He gave his heart willingly, so that I would be happy in a new world the way I had never been in our own, but his sacrifice was no less horrid because he put up no resistance. The Emperor dying so that the dragon may live feels the same. A great wrong feeds another.”

Settling for resting her hand on the back of Regina’s neck, Emma nodded. “So, let’s come at it the other way. What’s a great right in magical bookeeping?”

Regina’s gaze feel on Snow and David, standing together with their eyes on the horizon. “True love.”

“Okay. So, how to we use true love to summon a dragon?”

Regina’s expression was as blank as Emma’s thoughts. Sitting down next to her, Emma took the pearl back. 

“I thought so.”

“There must be something.” Regina reached for the pearl, to keep Emma from fidgeting. Their hands were very close, as they had been when they’d stopped the trigger.

“Something we can do together?” Emma led, hoping Regina would finish her train of thought with a better plan than they had so far. 

Regina’s head lifted and she watched Snow and David again. She went silent for such a long time that Emma had again started to play with the pearl when Regina snatched it back. 

“True love.”

“Right,” Emma nodded.

“And sacrifice.”

“Not the death kind.”

“No, no,” Regina said, leaving the bench. “Snow?”

Emma’s mother turned from the sea, walking over with David just behind her. “Yes?”

“What did you think of, when you were trying to save me?”

“Save you?” Emma’s chest went cold and she fixed Regina, then Snow with a demanding look. “Save you from what?”

“She was injured, Emma.” The gentleness Snow used suggested injured was a fucking understatement.

“I fed on Snow’s love,” Regina explained, lifting her hand towards Snow’s chest. “I don’t know how it happened, exactly, but somehow I was able to take what I needed from her.”

“You were welcome to it.” 

Caught between wanting to demand the truth and trying to follow what Regina was working towards, Emma stole a look at David, who was the only one on her side at the moment. He shook his head as if to say sometimes an argument wasn’t work the trouble. 

“Willing sacrifice,” Regina said.

Puzzled, Snow nodded. “Yes, I--“

“True love is willing to die,” Regina continued. “Which isn’t the same as death. Death is the highest price, but love, true love, looks past it.”

“So true love can summon a dragon?”

Regina paced so close to something that she radiated frustration. “That’s not it.”

“Love is strength,” Snow said, trying to help. “We saw that when Cora tried to take Emma’s heart. She couldn’t take it.”

“And my heart and yours broke your curse,” Emma added, remembering the instinctual need to keep Regina’s heart safe that had led her to take both within her chest. 

“Love is strength,” Regina repeated, stopping and staring at Snow. “When I was dying--“

“Dying!” Emma interrupted, grabbing her by the arm. “Regina--“

Stopping just long enough to explain, Regina turned to Emma with naked guilt. “Your mother saved me. She wouldn’t let me leave you. She gave me her strength.”

Snow rested her hand on her armour, just above her heart. “I thought about how much I loved you, Emma and your baby and you were able to take it from me.” 

“And heal myself when I couldn’t.” Regina focused back on Emma, bright with certainty. “What if that’s it? Your parents give us their strength, a willing sacrifice of love, not a death. Magic is emotion and true love is the strongest emotion there is.”

Emma tried to put any order to her thoughts. “How would they even give it to us?”

“Show her,” Snow said, lowering her hands to her sides. “Just like you did before.”

Regina waved away Snow’s armour in a cloud of purple, then rested her hand just above her heart, as if she meant to reach in and take it.

Snow closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them. The most contented smile Emma had ever seen lit her face, then light began to reach for Regina’s hand. As if she were collecting it like rainfall, it ran down Regina’s arm, then up until it settled in her chest. The exchange continued, Regina and Snow’s breathing slowing until they breathed as one entity, in slow unison. Instead of fading, or falling, Snow only glowed brighter, with more light creeping across to fill Regina.

“Emma.” Her father caught her and brought her hand above his own armour. “Regina’s right.”

“I can’t just--“

“Yes you can. We both love you more than anything. We’d give anything for you. Take it, so you can do this. Save us all.”

She whisked off his armour, raising her hand towards his heart. David brought it down to his skin as Regina and Snow collapsed together to the deck, both panting but smiling. 

Emma wanted to check on them, but whatever it was began to happen as soon as her skin met her father’s. Warmth raced down her arm, then up to settle in the centre of her chest, growing like a fireball in the dead of winter. She was loved and so breathlessly, achingly, full of love that her skin didn’t seem to be able to hold it all in. Her breath slowed, merging with her father’s. She saw herself through his eyes, sharing the wonder of a parent utterly smitten with his child. David’s selfless love for her filled her. 

Tears ran down her face. The parents who’d left her to grow up alone felt all of this for her. They adored her and leaving her was the hardest thing they’d done. She was theirs.

Holding her when she hit the deck, Regina murmured she was all right. It was all right. Emma looked into her eyes and saw a future laid out before them, shining full of promise. 

Taking Regina’s cheek in her hand, Emma knew the pulsing magic within her because it was mirrored in herself. They were parts of a whole so much greater than themselves. 

“Wow.”

Regina set the pearl in Emma’s hands, so they held it between them. With the glow of true love crackling all over them, the pearl’s light barely had any strength in the daylight. 

“What do we do?” 

Regina shut her eyes. “Listen.”

Around Emma boots thudded against wood, bowstrings snapped and warning bells carried over the sea. 

“The creature.”

The army rose to positions around them, her parents with them, but Emma’s world was Regina and the pearl resting in their fingers. 

Across the sea, the darkness rose hungry, ready to feed.

Gently, Regina’s smile grew. “We can stop it.”

Emma nodded, vibrant with purpose. “We will.”

Together they teleported, and Emma registered vaguely that the smoke that brought them inside of the creature was white. 

The white expanded outward, reaching within the dark abyss of the creature. Seeking what was absent, the light around them exploded from the pearl in their hands, sundering the darkness. 

Darkness split, torn by gleaming teeth. The great jaws of the silvery-blue dragon ripped the creature as if it were flesh. Tearing its way through, the dragon caught each of them in a huge scaled paw, then began to destroy. 

Claws like gleaming marble held Emma, not too tight, but secure, as they dove through the sky, rending the creature as they went. Across from her, between sky and darkness, Regina met her eyes. 

They were safe. 

The dragon burst through, sliding through the creature’s black body as if it were nothing but smoke. It flew low enough to deposit Emma and Regina gently on the deck of the flagship before returning to battle the great creature. 

Emma grabbed Regina and held her, crushing her close. Regina clung just as tightly. 

“That’s a very, very, big dragon,” Emma said. Arms firmly around Regina’s waist, she looked for her parents and found them, standing in awe on the deck with the rest of the army. 

“It needs to be.”

Shreds of the creature evaporated in the air as the dragon tore it apart, ripping with all four giant paws until the darkness began to retreat, crawling towards the sea. The dragon followed it, still mauling what it could reach.

For a blessed moment, only the dragon hung over the sea, brilliant and shining in the setting sun. 

Then the sea began to swirl and clouds rose to obscure the sky. A great maelstrom erupted where the creature had sank. Above it the dragon still circled, but it could not devour the sea. 

_She_ rose from the storm. Ursula had been mostly human sized when Emma had seen her last, but she must have fed on the remains of her creature, or taken an incredible amount of magic some other way because now she towered over them all. A great sea beast rose, tentacles slamming into the ships of the fleet. 

Covering Regina with her body, Emma held her to the deck as one of the vicious tentacles slammed into the ship. Screaming chaos enveloped them. Ran lashed down from the previously empty sky. Lightning roared through the clouds, lighting Ursula’s rise further towards the battered sky. 

The dragon pulled back, returning to hover over the ship as if it too had no idea what to do with the new monster. It attacked one tentacle, saving the flagship from another blow, but a second tentacle rose for the dragon, threatening to engulf it and pull it down, so it fled, flying higher out of reach.

Emma cursed, dragging Regina across the shivering deck towards her parents. Tentacles kept rising dark over them, no matter how many arrows or cannons they fired. 

The huge warship began to turn, groaning in the storm. It slipped into the swirling current of the maelstrom, gaining speed. 

“We’re ramming the creature,” Snow yelled through the rain. Fighting her way across the deck, she caught Emma’s hand and pulled. “We have to go.” 

Holding her mother’s hand and Regina’s, Emma nodded and stumbled along through the onslaught of water. David helped catch them both, helping hold them against the side. The whirlpool roared beneath them, deafening. 

“Go where?” Emma screamed back, her throat raw with the effort it took to be heard over the din. 

Regina glanced upward, then fired a ball of white light up into the sky. It burst like a flare and the dragon followed it down. This time it scooped the four of them into one paw and used the other three to grab as many soldiers as possible. It dropped them off on wave-swept beach, then continued to dive around the tentacles, rescuing as many as it could from the sea. 

The mighty warship turned into the maelstrom, using the momentum of the whirlpool to crash into the belly of the beast. Ursula, or whatever she had become, was lit in a horrifying instant as the ordinance of the ship caught fire.

Regina shoved Emma’s head down, her arms covering both of their heads. Snow and David pushed them down lower, covering Regina with their bodies. They crouched together, a knot of limbs with her parents. She forced her eyes shut but still the explosion turned her vision orange, then white. 

The roaring slowed, then faded, but the ringing in her eyes made speech impossible to comprehend. Snow’s mouth moved, but Emma shook her head. Her mother hugged her, then embraced Regina, then the four of them were in an awkward mass of a hug. 

Still holding Regina, Emma released her parents and stared up at the great, curious blue eyes of the dragon as it landed on the beach in front of them.

Trying to speak, Emma couldn’t even make out her own words. Regina kissed her cheek and wrapped an arm securely around Emma’s waist. Together they stared up at the creature who’d rescued them in awe.

The dragon lowered its great head, then delicately pushed the pearl towards them, rolling it across the wet sand to their feet. 

Emma stared at it, losing herself in the eyes the size of the hubcaps on her Bug.

Regina took a step closer, her hand outstretched. Emma followed her, lagging a step behind because the dragon was huge and it had just destroyed the shadow monster, maybe it didn’t--

The dragon rubbed against Regina’s hand, snorting almost affectionately. It was so big just its breathing moved Regina’s wet hair. She whispered to it, rubbing its nose.

Regina tugged Emma closer, taking her hand and bringing it to the dragon’s scales. It was warm, like sunny marble, and it pushed into Emma’s hand, almost happily, like a dog bigger than a house. 

Stumbling back, Emma kept her hands on the dragon’s nose. Regina said something to her but her ears were still ringing. Regina leant closer, then kissed her. That needed no words.

* * *

Hours after the battle, merfolk were still bringing survivors and bodies to the beach. The Qin army had set up first aid tents and the casualties were seen to. 

Regina and Emma had volunteered to help heal the injured and they’d gone from tent to tent, trying to help those they could. It had been exhausting work, and even with Emma constantly near her and the support of Snow and David, Regina was so bone-weary that she lay on the sand, unwilling to move.

Emma lay beside her, staring up at the sky as the moon rose over the ocean. They were both drained. Emptied of everything they had to give the wounded. The dragon lay just up the beach from them, it seemed to have become fond of them both, especially Regina. Now it slept, snoring contentedly. It had also been able to share some of its' strength, helping both of them continue longer than they would have on their own. Resting a hand on its flank was like having a full night's sleep, and it had worked long enough to heal most of the critical cases. 

She'd have more to do in the morning, but it would be the mending of bones and muscles, not trying to keep life within battered flesh. For now she was just tired, exhausted beyond all of her limits. Emma stretched a hand towards her, resting it on her arm. David had covered them both with a blanket and promised to make sure they had food in the morning but the thought of eating seemed like another marathon of effort. 

She reached for Emma's hand, pulling it towards her. Emma summoned more strength than Regina had and wriggled close enough to hold her, resting her head on Regina's shoulder. The dragon's tail curled in its sleep, wrapping around their blanket like a huge scaled wall between them and the outside world.

"You don't think he wants to cuddle?"

"He seems kind," Regina said. "Maybe he's been lonely, where ever he was."

"How long do you think he'll stay?"

Regina laughed weakly, kissing the top of Emma's head. "While I adore that you think I know all about dragons, unfortunately, I do not. The new Emperor may know more."

Eldest Prince would be crowned in the morning. The ancient emperor had died with his ship, reported pleased to have seen a dragon in his final moments of life. 

"So you don't know if we'll be keeping it then? I think we're out of shadow creatures for it to eat." 

Regina stroked her fingers through Emma's hair. "I'm sure he can eat cattle."

"Do we have cattle?"

"In our land? Cattle, sheep, goats: farmers raise many animals."

"For sale?" 

Regina yawned, holding Emma a little closer. "Yes, we have markets."

"Do we buy them?"

Yawning again, Regina kissed the top of Emma's head. "Do you really want me to explain feudal politics now?"

"I just don't get how it works. My sheriff's salary was the most steady paycheque I've had. How's that supposed to prepare me for being queen?" 

"How do you even have any energy left to worry about this? Aren't you exhausted?"

"My brain worries when I'm tired." 

"Emma--" Yawning cut her off again. "It'll be fine."

"You've been queen, and mayor. It's easy for you."

Regina's eyelids were so heavy that she couldn't even keep them open. "It's never easy but I'll be with you. Your parents--" 

"You're right." Emma lifted her head, kissing Regina's cheek. "Sorry." She sat over her, then rested her hand on Regina's belly. "I'm going to do what's best for you, baby, and you're lucky your mom is here because she's much better at it than I am. We're going to do it together, and you're going to be safe and loved, and you're going to have two parents the whole time, and grandparents. No one's going to tell you that you're crazy or hide you away. We're going to do everything, everything to make sure you grow up happy and safe."

Emma kept talking to the baby, telling her about the life she was coming into and all of her hopes for her until Regina was fast asleep.

* * *

Sun on her face woke her. The sea had crept further up the beach and the dragon watched her with wakeful eyes. Regina was better with animals, but she still slept. Emma lifted her hands and the dragon moved his head close enough to be scratched. The scaly ridges above his eyes seemed to be a favourite and Emma rubbed them until a rumbling, much like the purring of a jet engine rose in his chest.

"Okay, so, you like that." 

Getting to her feet, Emma leaned down to gently kiss Regina. She slept through it, curled on her side in the morning sun. 

"Come on, big guy, we'll let her sleep." 

She guided the dragon's attention down the beach. He kept his tail near Regina, as if keeping an eye on her but happily allowed Emma to scratch around the horns on his head and under his chin. 

"Henry's just going to love you," Emma said to him. "Poor kid's never had a pet and he gets you."

All of the tents along the shoreline were well back from the dragon, giving him plenty of space. Emma appreciated that, mostly because it meant Regina was far enough away from the chaos of morning in an army camp that she could sleep. 

The dragon licked her, or sniffed maybe, with his long blue forked tongue. He inclined his great head and nudged her when she stopped scratching. 

“Sorry big guy, I was just worried about sleepy head over there.” She gestured towards Regina, fast asleep on the blankets between a coil of the dragon’s tail. “I know she’s fine, I just--“

The dragon nudged her. 

“Hey, I don’t mock you for worrying about your babies. If you have babies. For all I know, you have a horde of little dragon kids, just waiting for you to come home.”

“He’s still young,” said a woman in a long, flowing red dress. She had dark hair that hung down her back nearly to her knees, like ink. She walked up from the far side of the beach, as if she’d come from the opposite direction as camp. She was barefoot, which struck Emma as odd, but she couldn’t wrap her head around why.

“This is Yinglong, the responsive dragon.” She extended her hand to the dragon and the big guy enthusiastically rubbed against it. 

“He was that,” Emma said. “He saved us.”

Something in the woman’s manner was unearthly, as if she were more like the dragon than human like Emma. 

“You discovered how to call him. I’d say you saved yourselves by allowing Yinglong to come to your aid.” 

“He’s been really helpful. He knows that, right?”

The woman smiled, and something about that was peaceful, even calming. “Of course he does. He is happy to have been of service to you. He has been away for many years and is pleased to be back with humans.”

“Away?”

“His pearl was taken.”

Emma got it. “That nine-headed guy had it.”

“And you freed it, thus freeing Yinglong to come to your aid.” 

The dragon, Yinglong, began to purr again under the woman’s touch. 

“So he’s happy?”

The woman laughed, a musical, soft kind of laughter that reminded Emma of the sea. “Can you not see it?”

“I just don’t want to take advantage of him. He saved us. We can never repay him.”

“Sweet child, Yinglong does not want payment for his good deeds, he does them because they are pleasurable to him.” The woman didn’t look much older than Emma, but she spoke as if centuries divided them. “Why do you worry so?”

“I guess I’m waiting for something to go wrong.”

“Can you not enjoy the moment? Your enemy is defeated. Her monster has been destroyed and will no longer threaten this sea.” The woman stepped away from the dragon and moved closer to Emma, the sea swirling her dress around her feet. 

“So many worries for one so young.” 

“I’m almost thirty.”

“So young,” the woman repeated, turning her eyes to the sea. “You worry for your son.”

“How do you--?”

“You summon dragons to your aid and wonder how a stranger might know of your son?”

Emma sighed. This was one of those conversations, where she never really knew who she was talking too, or what was really going on. 

“It’s all a little new to me.”

“This world is your home, but you also have been many years away, like Yinglong.”

“I guess that’s it.” Emma felt nothing of warning and the woman didn’t seem to be lying. Perhaps she should just trust her and part of her wanted to. This woman seemed so calm. She turned the beads on her wrist, trusting that if something was wrong, the dragon would have reacted. 

“What was it? The dark creature?”

“Something old that should have been left to sleep.” The woman patted the dragon one more time, then focused on Emma. “Pan should not have woken it.”

“Is it gone?”

“That creature is gone, but it was one of many horrors that are much safer when they sleep. You’ve felt their eyes on you.”

Emma searched her memory. “You mean the abyss? Where the merfolk won’t go?” She remembered the chilling sensation of something watching her, something old and angry.

“The mother of darkness rests there, and her dreams can be taken from her. Pan took one of them and tried to work it to his will, but her dreams cannot be controlled, even by those like Pan or Ursula.”

Emma glanced past the dragon, back at Regina. “How do we keep the dreams away? Will they come for us? How do I?”

“If she is left to sleep her dreams will not harm you, but if she wakes--“

“Then we’re fucked,” Emma finished for her. “I get it. Thanks for the warning.”

To her surprise the woman smiled instead of chiding Emma for her language as her mother or Regina might have done. 

“You are welcome.”

Emma shifted on her feet. “What?”

“You have not asked to be rewarded.”

“Rewarded?” Emma shook her head. “For what?”

“Summoning Yinglong, saving my people.”

“Your people?”

The woman indicated all the tents on the shoreline. “Without you, the graves would number many.”

“My family was there too.”

“Is that what you would like?”

Emma wasn’t used to asking for gifts, especially from strange women who spoke to dragons. 

“What?”

“Something for your family?”

Emma looked at Regina again, wishing she could spare her from the discussion they still had to have with Henry. He’d started to confess, telling Emma something but they hadn’t had time and his amulet was broken.

“Henry, can you restore him? Heal him?”

The woman shook her head. “He has chosen his fate.”

“To love as a fucking merman? He’s just a kid.”

“He knew the price of the amulet when he put it on.”

“Knowing isn’t really knowing, not when you’re eleven.” 

The woman’s eyes softened with sympathy. “I am sorry I cannot restore him. I can ease the pain of your separation, if you wish it.” She reached down into the sea, then lifted her hand, water coiling around it. It coalesced into a bunch of necklaces, amulets, hanging from her palm. 

“When you wear one of these in the water, you can be as your son is now, without fear. There are no secrets in these, their price has been paid with your bravery.”

She held them out to Emma and dumbly, Emma reached for them. There were four of them, all jade and pearl, on long strands of tiny pearls. 

“No one will be trapped by these?” Emma asked. She’d have Regina look at them anyway, but it didn’t hurt to be sure. 

“I am rewarding you and your family, not punishing you.”

Emma counted them, wrapping her fingers in the pearls. “Why four?”

The woman, whoever she was, smiled almost playfully. “Henry has two mothers, a sister and another yet to come.”

“Wait, what?”

“You’ve suspected your child is a girl.”

“I made it through enough biology to know that unless magic messes with chromosomes, Regina and I can only make girls.”

The woman moved her feet in the sea, as if taking it in. She nodded. “Perhaps.”

“But you mean another kid?”

“Perhaps your family is not yet complete.”

“You mean another kid? It better not be twins because Regina would kill me--“

“In your future, sweet child. I can see the other in your eyes.” 

“So you’re saying someday, Regina and I will have another kid.”

The woman beamed at her. “All things are possible.” 

She’d heard that before. Emma stared at her, trying to see if the woman wore some kind of disguise. The woman pointed to the beads on Emma’s wrist and then shifted, magically changing into the ancient seer who had given them to her.

“You- that was you?”

“You came to me when you did not know who I was and you asked for my help.” The woman resumed her previous form, that of the young woman in the red dress. “How could I have refused you?” 

Emma took the beads from her wrist and held them out. “Do you want them back?”

“They’re wood, Emma. They’re only wood. All of this, was your doing. You and your family saved my people. Yinglong will take you home, where you will rule wisely until the dreamer wakes.”

“The dreamer?”

“The mother of darkness, of monsters, but do not worry about her yet. She still sleeps. You have a kingdom to protect, children to raise.”

“But Henry--“

“Is your son, is he not? Regardless of his form.”

“Yeah.”

“Then be his mother, I can promise you the sea is no more dangerous than land.”

“And you’d know?”

“Because the sea is my home, sweet child.” The woman nodded to her. “Be safe. Yinglong will see you home to your land. You've done enough for mine.”

Emma ran to the blanket and grabbed the pearl, careful not to wake Regina. “Do you want this back?”

“Keep it. Yinglong seems to like you. If the dreamer wakes, you may have need of it.”

“Great.”

“You have strength, child. Do not forget it.” The woman stroked the dragon again, bidding him goodbye, then she vanished, turning to water and falling back into the sea. 

Emma looked at the dragon, then returned to Regina, who still slept. 

“Think she’ll believe me?”

Yinglong lowered his head, nudging Emma with his nose. 

“Yeah. Easy for you to say.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our heroes save the day! Now to get them home and sorted out. 
> 
> The woman in red is Mazu, a Chinese sea goddess. 
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me and this story.


	14. Chapter 14

Emma stretched then dragged her fingers through her hair, frowning. “I should just cut it off.”

“Tempted to follow mother and cut it off?” Regina asked her. Regina had her feet in the surf, her shoes abandoned far back up the beach. Emma had been giving her that look all morning: the one where she thought she was cute. Apparently all she had to do was take her shoes off and sit on the beach like a child to amuse her fiancee. 

“I think you gave her that haircut.” Emma kept working on the tangles in her hair, trying to ease them out. 

“My curse did. I had no control over the little details like that.” Regina waved her over. “Didn’t your parents give you a comb?”

Emma shrugged and pointed up the beach where her belongings sat in a pile next to Regina’s much neater pile. “It’s made of horn.”

“It’s not like someone killed the ox just to make your comb. Their horns grow back.” Regina pointed at Emma’s things and waited for Emma to sigh, start to argue, and then finally give in. “I’ll do it for you.”

“I’m not sitting in the sea,” Emma said, returning with the comb.

Sliding back up the beach, Regina sat up, opening her legs so Emma would fit between them. Taking the comb from her, she started on the ends, getting to work on the tangles. 

“I don’t see why plastic from long dead animals doesn’t bother you but horn from a perfectly fine ox does.”

“It’s just weird.”

“It’s good for your hair.”

“Is that what the ox comb dealer told you?”

“So cynical,” Regina teased. “At least I listen to the people selling me things.”

“I listen.”

“What did we eat for breakfast today?”

“Stuff. Rice stuff.” Emma rested her head on Regina’s knee. “We didn’t buy that.”

“We were still told what it was.”

“And I eat anything, as you’re so fond of reminding me. I ate it without complaint or leaving half of it in the bowl like some people.”

Regina worked her way slowly up Emma’s hair, teasing out the knots. “Your point being?”

“I thought we talked about this,” Emma said, turning within Regina’s arms. “If you feel like shit, you tell me.”

“What if I simply wasn’t that hungry?”

“Uh-huh.” Emma refused to turn back around. 

Kissing her softly, Regina gestured that she should turn back. “I’m slightly nauseated. I would hardly consider that worth employing your oh-so-colourful metaphor.”

Emma caught one of Regina’s hands, pulling it forward to kiss it. “Was that so hard?” 

“I hardly see why it’s worth discussing. You’re as aware as I am of the physical downsides of pregnancy.”

“Maybe I care which downside you’re currently experiencing.”

“You make it sound like they’re all lined up in wait for me.” Regina eased Emma’s hair behind her ears, content the tangles were out. She collected it into equal amounts and started braiding so it would not get so snarled again. 

“If they were, I’d want to know.”

“I don’t see how that helps the situation. You knowing I’m nauseated does little to alleviate it.”

Emma tried to turn again, but Regina moved her head back. 

“I’d do it for you if I could,” Emma said.

“I know, and that’s very sweet of you, dear.”

“Could you be more patronising?”

Regina laughed, then kissed the back of Emma’s neck, just above her collar. “I meant no offence. I find your concern for my welfare endearing, if confusing.”

“You’re very important to me. Even the sick parts of you.” 

Braiding Emma’s silky hair had a meditative quality to it that soothed Regina, even though she would not have admitted she was as tense. 

“I can think of some sore parts of mine you’re particularly fond of.”

Emma reached back just enough to stroke Regina’s breast. “You’re cute.”

“I would like to point out that I do not accuse you of patronising me when you refer to me as 'cute'.”

“Because I’m not.”

“Under your own, rather non-traditional, definition of the term?” 

Emma tried to turn around again, searching for a kiss.

“Stop, you’ll mess up your hair.”

“You can fix it.”

“Emma--“

Then they were lying on the beach, Emma gently above her, kissing even though Regina still had the braid of her hair held in her hand. 

“I should pull it, just to teach you.” 

“Yes, you should teach me how to behave. I’ve been very, very naughty.” Emma’s hands snuck beneath Regina’s skirt, heading up.

“We’re surrounded by soldiers.”

“Who know better than to watch that closely.”

“There’s a dragon.”

“He’ll just think we’re playing.”

“Your parents-“ Regina protested, catching Snow’s wave from down the beach. 

“Are probably off having sex, because they’re very smart that way. They take advantage of the time they have-“ Emma kissed her neck, purposely drawing a moan when she found a favourite spot just beneath Regina’s ear. 

“-Are here,” Regina finished, trying to extricate herself enough to be mildly presentable.

“Sure they are.”

Regina sat up, slipping Emma’s heads out from beneath her skirt and holding them in her own. “Good morning, Snow, David.”

“Seems you’re off to a good start,” David teased, raising his eyebrows at his daughter.

“We saved the empire,” Emma said. Pink rose in her face, but she managed to meet her parents’ eyes. “So we’re celebrating a little.”

“Of course,” Snow said. “You don’t want to save some of that for when we go home?”

“Have we been released by his new imperial highness?”

“Majesty,” Regina corrected.

“Right. Is the Emperor ready to let us go?”

“Trade relations are very important for a kingdom like ours. Qin is large, powerful and prosperous, keeping relations positive with them is important.” 

Emma smiled up at her mother. “I’m sure you worked out a well-written trade agreement.”

“I asked you to assist me. I hoped you’d be interested in how we develop treaties between kingdoms.”

Regina watched their faces, noticing Snow’s patient disappointment and Emma’s reluctance. 

“I wasn’t feeling well,” she said, trying to cover for Emma. 

Emma looked at the sand, then shook her head. “But she didn’t tell me about it. Mom, I’m sorry. I went for a walk. I was thinking about Henry and I forgot you wanted to teach me treaties.”

“We’ll have more,” Snow said, forgiving her easily. Crouching down next to Regina, she rested her hands on the sand. “Are you all right?” 

“I’m fine.”

Snow met her eyes, then reached for her shoulder. “It’ll be good for you to be back home.”

Regina wondered if home meant her lonely castle in exile or the cell the people would want to stick her in. No matter how much Emma and Snow tried to reassure her it was hard to believe the people who’d come to her house in a mob after the curse had broken would accept her back without complaint. 

“Home is with us,” Snow said, as if reading her mind. “With Emma.”

“She doesn’t trust me not to get lost in the castle,” Emma joked. “I also can’t be trusted to keep my own room in a state fit for servants to see it. Though, I'd like to point out that my part of the apartment was never that bad.”

“I’ve missed years of telling you to clean your room. I have to make up for it somehow.” Snow looked at her a little longer, then squeezed her shoulder. “It gets better.”

Emma looked to her father, and he nodded to her, reassuring her about something she hadn’t said. “Henry asked me to talk to you guys about something.”

“When is he coming back?” Regina asked. He’d been evasive since they’d defeated the dark creature, only engaging in the briefest of conversations over the enchanted shell. “He’ll travel with us, won’t he?”

Emma took her hand, holding it close. “He’s going to travel with the merfolk. Triton is sending a delegation, an ambassador to Mom’s court. Henry will come with them.”

That made no sense. “Why isn’t he coming with us? Doesn’t he want to meet Yinglong? How many chances will he get to ride a dragon?” 

“Of course he would, but it makes more sense for him to come with the merfolk. It’ll be easier for him.”

“You can’t let him dictate what he does like that,” Regina chastised. “He’s still so young.”

“Henry may need to stay with the merfolk much longer than we originally thought.” Emma was hiding something, avoiding her questions. 

“Why? What’s going on?”

“You remember his amulet?”

“The one he told us was a gift.” Regina nodded. Whatever Emma was worried about, David seemed to know about it because his expression had become so sympathetic. 

“It was a gift from Ursula. When she removed it, he was in the seawater. The amulet made that his natural state. Now being merfolk is his true form or some magical bullshit like that. I tried to heal him and I can’t. King Triton attempted to return Henry to human form, but he can't be changed. The curse of the amulet is a powerful one.”

“No.”

“Regina, he seems to be trapped.”

“As a mermaid?” Regina shook her head. “That’s not possible.”

“King Triton said the amulet was many centuries old. It was once used by a merman who wanted to become human and he became trapped. He was never able to return to the sea. The reverse has happened to Henry.”

“Emma, no.” Regina pushed herself up to her feet, heading for the shell to call Henry and make him refute what Emma was saying. 

Emma, Snow and David all followed her to the blanket. 

“He’s so sorry.”

“Where is he?” Regina grabbed the shell and shook it, waiting for it to glow. 

Emma reached for the shell, trying to stop her. “He thought you’d be angry.”

“He trapped himself in another form. He’s cursed! What was he thinking?”

“He’s a child, Regina,” David answered. “He was thinking that the amulet let him spend time with his friends.”

“Why didn’t we take it from him?”

“Because he was safe with them,” Emma reminded her. “Safer than he would have been with us most of this time. If he'd stayed with us, where would he have been? In the Emperor’s flagship while we fought the creature? On the beach with the army? The merfolk city is a peaceful, beautiful place where Henry is with other kids his age, who go to school, and study and play. It’s like an under the sea boarding school or something.”

“But he’s not with us. He can’t be with us--“ How could Emma be so calm about this?

Taking the shell from Regina’s hand, Emma handed it to her mother. “He’s safe. He loves us. King Triton has offered to take personal responsibility for him. Henry will be with Ariel and the other princesses.”

“Why didn’t he tell me?” The heat in her chest clenched down, threatening to make it hard to breathe. 

“I don’t think he wanted you to be upset.”

Regina blinked back tears and shook her head. “You mean he didn’t want to see me upset.”

“You can yell at me all you want,” Emma offered, reaching for her. “And it’s fine with me if you’re upset.”

“He’s our son.”

“And he made a choice.” Emma took her arm. “The amulet broke when he gave me my magic back. He could have pulled away, saved himself and we might not have been able to defeat the creature. Henry saved us all and he’s stuck with his tail. We have to respect that.”

“No, we don’t, Emma. We make him come back. We get something from Gold or that goddess of yours and we bring him back.”

“Regina--“

“Don’t.”

“This is his choice. We have to respect that. He gave up his legs for me. He saved me.”

Part of her screamed that he shouldn’t have. That Henry should have protected himself, no matter what happened to either of them. Yet without Emma’s magic, they would have died. Without Emma, Yinglong never could have saved them. Understanding did nothing to ease the pain. 

Emma opened her arms, offering Regina comfort she didn’t want to take. She wanted to push her away, to hold her suffering close and refuse to let it go. Surprising herself, Regina took a step towards her, then clung to Emma, not even caring that Snow and David were both watching her cry. 

“He saved you, and you’re fine with that?”

Emma’s face was impassive, even still. “I’m not fine with anything.”

Letting her tears fall freely, Regina stared at Emma as if she could see the walls she’d put up behind her eyes. 

“Our kid lost his legs not saving my life, but my magic. I don’t need magic, I lived most of my fucking life without it and our son goes and sacrifices himself for it.”

Something shifted, as if the sand were moving under her feet. Emma had been trying so hard to keep calm, to be strong for Regina and she was the one falling apart. 

"He's not dead." It was a stupid, useless thing to say, but there was truth to it. David and Snow stood back, letting them deal with each other as if they could. Didn't they both need to be saved from their demons? Were the Charmings just watching out of pity? 

"No, he's not dead, but he's gone. We'll see him occasionally, and yeah, we can visit but we'll never live with him again. I don't even know if we can hug him right unless he's in water. How's that even going to work?"

"You said we have to respect his choice."

"We do, and, you know what? I hate it. I can't hate him for being so damn heroic, look where he comes from. My parents keep losing each other and you, you've nearly died twice since we got here and I have to hear about it from my mom."

"You're angry about that?" Her grief softened and something took its place that Regina was still unaccustomed to. 

Emma dropped her arms to her sides, her whole form stiffening. "I'm angry that Henry suddenly decided that my magic is important enough to give up his ability to live on land. I'm angry that we're constantly fighting and as soon as we beat something, another thing rises up in its place and we have to fight even harder, risk even more to beat the next darkness. Why is it always me? My parents, my son, my fiancee? Isn't it enough that I'm the saviour and I had to give up my family before I even knew who they were? Why does everyone I love have to suffer around me too?"

"Emma." How did she comfort her? 

"Don't. Just, don't. You save Storybrooke and nearly kill yourself doing it, then you save my mom and I find out you nearly got yourself killed again, and Henry, of course he's the same way. Look at all his role models, we're just falling over ourselves to sacrifice ourselves. It's all bullshit."

Snow wanted to intervene, but Regina shook her head. It was the barest of movements, but it was enough. She had to be the one to help Emma. She had to reach her, somehow. This was how love worked. She had to be able to help her deal with this. 

"You said he's safe."

"Probably much safer away from us." Emma sighed but there was no relief in it, just more simmering frustration. "He won't have to be king after me, he'll never develop magic like mine, or yours, merfolk magic is different. In a way, it's better for him--"

She reached for Emma then, touching her shoulder. "That's not true."

"Isn't it? Triton can offer him safety, a place where everyone doesn't have to know he's the son of the queen and the saviour. He's normal there." 

She didn't shake off Regina's hand. That was progress. 

"I doubt a human boy who grew up in a world without magic passes for 'normal' in a merfolk city."

"He's happier there."

"You know, I've never worried that much if he was happy. I knew without a doubt that the best place for Henry was with me, then you arrived and destroyed everything I had so carefully built, and I thought he couldn't possibly be happy in such chaos, but he was. He was happier in the bizarre way we shared him that he ever was with me, and I don't know if I could have admitted that a few months ago. We love Henry and that means wanting him to be safe and happy. If he's those things as a merman, you're right. We do have to accept it."

Emma kicked the sand. "How the fuck do we do that?"

"We try to do it together," Regina offered Emma her hand this time. "We yell at each other instead of him, and when he tells us how he feels, we listen. We don't give up, we make sure he knows we love and support his choice and we live with it, because that's what parents do. At some point, we have to let go, don't we?"

"I was thinking when he was eighteen, or thirty-five, not eleven." Emma stared at Regina's offered hand, then took it, nearly crushing her fingers. 

"This world is hard on children."

"And we're having another one," Emma said. Her anger faded, sinking into an exhausted acceptance. "Poor kid better forgive us."

Regina hugged her, letting go of the idea that she had to say something and somehow make it better. She held the woman she loved. Over Emma's shoulder, she caught Snow's grateful look and realised she'd done it right. She and Emma could help each other, look after each other, be each other’s constant in the shifting chaos; that was real love. Perhaps even true love, and that filled her with hope.

* * *

Henry finally dared appear in person that afternoon, meeting his mothers out in the surf. They all cried, hugging in the water and trying to make the best of it. Ariel and Triton accompanied him. Triton was gracious, stern, and obviously a strict parent. Emma thought that had helped Regina come to terms with letting him take responsibility for Henry. He was tough, but fair and Regina liked that. 

It had still nearly dragged her heart from her chest to watch Henry go with him, and holding Regina while she cried hurt even more. They weren’t losing him forever. He’d be near them; he’d be safe. Henry would learn wonders from the merfolk, be part of their society, and visit as often as he could. 

Emma had the set of amulets, the safe ones from the sea goddess, and with them they could visit. After all, he was still their little boy. Maybe it was easier for Emma because she’d let him go before, or perhaps she was more pragmatic. Regina had cried until the headache she tried to hide was vicious behind her eyes. 

Yinglong was concerned by their sorrow, and as Emma held her, he curled around them both, falling asleep like a great, scaly guardian. 

Emma listened to his breathing slow, and then he started to snore. She hadn’t meant to laugh, but the big lug snoring away behind her was pretty funny. 

“Your dragon snores.”

Regina moved her head against Emma’s chest but didn’t lift it. “My dragon?”

“He likes you. Got all worried about you.” Emma kissed her head. “I know. You’re fine.”

“No. I’m not fine. My son’s going to spend the rest of his life under the sea, and I have the worst headache.”

Emma fought not to laugh again. “I told you honesty was going to get easier.”

“Being honest doesn’t make it hurt less.” Regina snuggled closer. Her arms lay on Emma’s chest, so she protected her from the world. 

“Want me to fix it?” Emma brought light to one of her fingers, reaching for Regina’s forehead. “Ouch--“ 

“Ouch?”

“ _E.T._!” Emma rolled her eyes. “Seriously? _E.T._ is a classic. Why didn't your curse bring you a video store?”

“Like _Alien_?” 

“ _E.T._ is an alien, but not like _Alien_ , alien. He’s smaller and less toothy, bigger eyes.”

Sitting up all the way, Regina shook her head, but managed a smile. “You make very little sense.”

“But while you’re trying to make sense of me, you’re not thinking about your headache or our son the merman.” Emma stroked Regina’s cheek with the back of her fingers. “Ready to go home? Mom and Dad are all packed and I think if they don’t get a kingdom to worry about soon, not even big snorer here will be able to protect us from their fussing.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Hey, no apologise.” Emma lifted her chin, trying to make Regina smile again. “I promise there are many moments coming where I’ll be a total wreck and you can be the tough one.”

“I don’t need to be tough.”

“Says the woman who booby-trapped her mansion.” 

Regina smirked, which was nearly as good as a smile. “You might appreciate a few booby-traps when baby doesn’t want to let us sleep past dawn.”

“Do these count?” Emma cupped Regina’s breasts in her hands. “I hear these are great baby distracters for at least the first year.”

“What’s your excuse?”

Shaking her head, Emma squeezed and Regina’s little gasp verged on pain. “I’m in love, if you must know.”

“I think you’ve been in love with my cleavage for much longer than the rest of me.”

Dropping her hands from Regina’s breasts, down her waist to her ass, Emma changed her grip. “Some parts of you were love at first sight.”

Regina kissed her, then leaned against her forehead. “Let’s go home.”

“Yeah?”

“I bet there’s a bed we can break in.”

“A bed?” Emma feigned surprise. “What luxury. I thought we’d be stuck with our scaly friend here for a pillow for at least a few days.”

“Yinglong is a sacred dragon.”

“Who likes pet names!” Emma protested. She got up and walked to the dragon’s head. “Don’t you, big guy?”

Yinglong opened his huge blue eyes, then yawned, stretching his tongue towards Emma. She scratched along his eye ridge and he sighed, contented. “He’s good, kind of like a big, big cat. He’s just looking for the right spot in the sun.”

“Which is easier than playing fetch with him, I suppose.”

Regina double checked their meagre pile of belongings. It was armour, weapons and their small amount of clothing. Hook and the _Jolly Roger_ had taken on a new crew from all corners of the world and were taking the scenic route around Siam, Bharata and the mysterious ports of the southern continent. He’d promised to keep an eye out for coffee after Emma and Snow had offered a queen’s ransom for the beans. They would be well kept in tea for years, due to the Emperor’s kindness in giving them several barrels, but it wasn’t quite the same indulgence. 

Emma peered over her shoulder, then frowned. “We’re going to need to teleport back to the _Jolly Roger_.” 

“Oh?”

“They’re not here. I thought they’d be but I haven’t seen them at all.” Sighing, she started to concentrate on the deck of the _Jolly Roger_ , summoning her energy.

“Emma--“ Regina caught her arm. “Do you mean these?” She pulled a small bag from her dress and opened it onto Emma’s hands. Lion-faced green silk baby shoes tumbled onto Emma’s palm. 

She beamed at Regina. “You had them?”

“I haven’t let them out of my sight, dear.”

Kissing Regina for her sweetness, Emma handed back the shoes so Regina could keep them safe. “Romantic.”

“I’ve never protested the contrary. Unlike you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Yinglong nudged Emma, nearly knocking her over. She patted him. “I know Big Guy, time to go.” She waved to her parents and watched Regina wrap their things magically in rope, so they’d be easy for Yinglong to lift. 

Emma scrambled up Yinglong’s outstretched leg, grabbing the spines on his back for balance. It wasn’t first class, but it was pretty comfortable. She offered her hand to help Regina up next to her and stopped, surprised when Regina hesitated.

“It’s actually pretty comfortable up here.”

“I’ve never flown.” 

“What?”

“I didn’t exactly have a broomstick, dear.”

Snow and David arrived holding hands. “We flown haven’t either. Guess it’s a first time for most of us.”

“Hey, it’s not like I’ve flown a dragon,” Emma said, shaking her head at all of them. “A plane is way different and I’m totally fine.”

Snow climbed up as Emma had, settling down with a large spine behind her back. “There’s plenty to hold on to.”

David followed Snow, sitting just behind her. 

“Come on,” Emma said. “I’ll let you drive.”

“You can’t possibly think that anyone but the dragon will control where he goes.”

Yinglong rubbed his head against Regina, as if agreeing with her. 

“See, he likes you. That means you’re driving.”

Climbing up neatly, Regina took Emma’s hand and sat in front of her. Emma wrapped her arms around her waist and settled in. 

“We’re ready,” Snow said. 

Emma wasn’t sure there was such a thing as being ready to ride a dragon. It didn’t take off with the roar of a jet, nor did he have to run along the beach to take off. Yinglong simply jumped, rising easily into the sky. He circled back, scooping up their belongings in his paws. They passed over the Qin camp twice, as if the dragon were saluting them, before he rose into the sky. 

None of them had asked how long it would take. Emma supposed Yinglong had no real way of telling them if they were doing the trip in legs or if they’d just poof there in some kind of draconic teleportation spell. 

It must have been more like mermaids, where the distance of the sea didn’t matter when they travelled. Yinglong rose so high into the sky that the air was cold, clouds obscured the sea below and none of them could tell how fast they were travelling. Emma was just starting to get stiff, holding Regina with dragon's neck between her thighs. Then they slowed, the air grew warmer, and green spread out below them like a carpet. The carpet became lumpier, then gave way to individual trees as they drew in.

The ruins of Snow’s castle were up ahead, next to the lake, and Emma could start to make out people in a clearing. Was that Storybrooke? Were they all there? 

Yinglong caused quite the commotion. Everyone ran for cover, but no arrows rose to meet them. They were barely down to the ground when Snow slid off, falling to the ground with her hands up.

“It’s us, he’s with us.”

Ruby ran from the woods, launching herself at Snow in the tightest hug Emma had seen since the curse broke. The dwarves emerged next, then the fairies, Dr. Hopper- Mr. Cricket- whatever he preferred to be called now, gave them a shy wave as he fluttered in the air and Regina guided the dragon down to the grassy meadow. 

Emma and David slipped off together and Emma hung back to catch Regina as she slid down. She was just lowering her to the grass of the meadow when Ruby came to hug her. For a moment, Emma was halfway between Ruby and Regina, then Ruby stopped. 

“Hi Emma.”

Emma held Regina’s hand, even though she tried to pull it away. “Hey Ruby.”

Ruby looked them both over, her eyes taking on that faraway wolf-senses sort of look. 

“We smell okay?”

“Your clothes are strange, and this guy--“

“Yinglong must smell a little weird.”

“I’ve never smelt anything like him,” Ruby said. Her eyes flicked to Emma and Regina’s joined hands, then she ignored what she’d seen. “What is he?”

“A friend, a sacred dragon from the empire of Qin who decided to help bring us home.”

“Thanks,” Ruby directed up at the dragon. “Does he understand?”

“Yeah, he seems to get what you say to him. He likes to be scratched near his horns and loves it when you rub his eye ridges.” Emma led Ruby over, showing her how Yinglong liked to be stroked. He accepted Ruby’s touch eagerly, then sniffed her over, perhaps deciding he’d never smelt anything like werewolf either. 

Emma left the two of them to it, returning to Regina before she retreated back from the approaching crowd. Their town was ecstatic to see Snow and David, and nearly as happy to see Emma. She accepted more than a few hugs before she stood at Regina’s side and refused to leave it. People stayed back then, congratulating her for returning, but remaining at a non-hugging distance. 

She wanted to take Regina away, hold her tight and just be alone for awhile. That didn’t seem to be an option at the moment, not with the whole of Storybrooke emerging from the woods to see their queen, king and the dragon who’d brought them home. 

Belle and Mr Gold arrived together. He’d wasted no time giving up his kung fu master clothes from Qin and now wore a leather vest that had a sparkle to it, as if he were the David Bowie of fairy tale land. His skin was darker too, more gold in a way it hadn’t been in Qin. She must have been staring because Gold nodded to her. 

“Something amiss, dearie?”

“Your powers are tied to this land, aren’t they? You’re stronger here than you were in Qin.”

“Qin has its own secrets, as it appears you’ve discovered,” he said, gesturing to the dragon. “We didn’t expect you for several months yet.”

“We?” Emma looked for Belle, assuming that was who he meant, but instead Neal nearly tackled her. 

“Emma!” The hug was tight and she probably felt like a dead fish because all she could do was stand there in shock.

“You were--“

“Not dead. I came through here and some friends of yours patched me up.” Neal tilted his head towards Aurora and Mulan. The latter obviously recognised all of their clothes and the dragon. Mulan's nod towards them had respect. 

“I’m so glad you’re back.“ Neal started to kiss her and Emma squirmed back. 

“I’m glad you’re alive, but Neal--“ 

“Baelfire,” he corrected. “Neal was another guy. Most people call me Bae now.”

“Bae,” Emma began. “Look, we need to--“

“Talk, I know. I know what you said and what I said and I think--“ He stopped, finally following Emma’s eyes towards Regina. “Unless there’s something else you were going to say.”

“Bae, I love you, I always will love you, but not this kind of love.” She pulled out of his arms and looked at Regina, who’d started speaking to Hopper cordially. “Regina and I, we’re--“

“You’re a thing?”

“We’re engaged.” She’d said it too quickly, and surprise passed over his face. 

“Engaged?”

“Look, it’s not like I’m the first one to get engaged.”

“I don’t need to remind you that Tamara was evil and Regina, well she’s--“

“My fiancee,” Emma finished for him. “That’s all the discussion we’re having about that. Henry--“

“Where is the little guy?”

“With friends,” Emma said, trying to find a way to sound less evasive. “He’s with the merfolk we met. Turns out they get along great and he’s going to travel with them. Should be here in a few weeks.”

“Weeks?”

“Faster than a ship, slower than a dragon, I guess. Magical transport is complicated. We can’t all just teleport across the world like your father here.”

“It nearly killed him,” Neal- Bae said. “He just appeared one day, all but dead, babbling about you guys over in Chin--“

“The empire of Qin,” Emma interrupted. “Mulan’s people, I think.”

“Yeah. So our kid’s hanging with mermaids?”

“He’s not like you at all,” Emma quipped, rolling her eyes. “Kid’s an early bloomer.”

“Mermaids are--“

“Don’t even start,” Emma said. “Look, we’ll talk later, okay, I want to get Regina and the big scaly guy all settled in. What’s the housing situation like?”

“When the curse broke everyone arrived in the clothes they were wearing with whatever was in their hands. We’ve got a big stack of useless smartphones and some random electrical stuff we’ll have to put in a museum. We like in a bunch of wood and dirt hovels. It’s all pretty temporary, but we broke ground on the town square last week. We’re thinking over there, below that hill.” He pointed and Emma looked into the trees. 

“Guess we should have brought more than armour from Qin.”

“You have armour?”

“Yeah, don’t you?”

“We’re not quite to the blacksmithing stage yet. We have a few people with the skills, but we’re working on just getting everyone somewhere dry to sleep and enough to eat before the leaves start falling.”

Emma looked around at the trees and realised all the variations of green there were. Many of the leaves were nearly gold, and it was much cooler than it had been along the sea in Qin. “Has your dad been helping with magic?”

“For a long time, he didn’t have much left. Teleporting here took it out of him.” Bae had obviously wanted it to stay gone, but Emma couldn’t help feeling a little bit glad they had the Dark One around, just in case. As long as he stayed well clear of Regina, he could be kind of helpful. “He’s gotten it back lately. Belle’s been helping him clear streets, move boulders; stuff like that. He’s really smitten with her.”

“Belle’s a good woman.”

“She’s probably my age.”

Emma smirked at him. “Regina’s my step-grandmother. We lead weird lives.”

“Engaged?”

“Yeah.”

Bae looked her over and nodded. “Okay. Look, I’m going to--“

“I’ll see you around.”

“Tomorrow?” he asked. “I’d like to hear about the kid.”

“Yeah.” That would be another exhausting conversation, at least Bae probably wasn’t going to cry, so Emma wouldn’t end up in tears as well. “Okay.”

Regina wasn’t jealous. If anything, she looked sad in the way she did when she was trying desperately not too show her emotions. Emma walked her around behind the bulk of the dragon and kissed her. 

“He knows about you and we were just talking about Henry.”

“It’s okay.”

“Really okay?” 

“I’m not jealous.”

“No, you're not.” Emma searched Regina’s eyes, looking for clues. “You’re not upset about Neal-Bael-whatever. It’s that no one missed you,” she said it as softly as she could, but it obviously stung.

Regina straightened, seeking refuge behind her walls. “Why would they?”

“Regina--“

“Even undoing my curse sent them back to an empty forest. Have you seen where they’ve been living?” 

“I heard it’s a little grim.”

“The tents of the Qin army would be an improvement,” Regina said. 

Emma took a deep breath, then looked over to her parents, surrounded by the people who adored them. “Then let's make it better.”

“What?”

“We have to be able to do something. We killed a shadow monster, surely we can manage a little cleaning or constructing.”

“Everything they have is gone.”

“Not the castle,” Emma reminded her, looking at the rickety towers in the distance. 

“It’s a ruin.”

“We’ll fix it.”

Regina shook her head. “We can’t.”

“We’ve got the big guy. He’s a magic booster and a pretty big one at that. How many people did we heal with his help?”

“Hundreds,” Regina said. “But this is different.”

“Healing a castle can’t be that different, come on.” She grabbed Regina’s hand and tugged her over to the dragon’s leg. “All right Big Guy, we need you.”

Yinglong obediently stopped being fussed over and let them climb up. He took to the air while Emma was still getting her seat and she clung to Regina, who did have more practice riding. 

“You’re all right.”

“I told you that you were better at driving.”

“Yes, dear.”

Emma smirked and held on. Yinglong swooped in low over the ruins of the castle, hovering just above it. 

Emma shut her eyes and clung to Regina, letting the strength of the dragon bolster their own. At first nothing happened, then stone began to crack and rustle, reforming itself from dust and rubble. Burnt timbers were remade, returning to where they’d been. Shattered glass melted back into whole windows, filling the gaps in the walls. Even the dirt from the stones and the years of wear and tear, faded away and the castle stood, bright and gleaming as if it had just been finished. 

Regina caught her breath, leaning on the dragon’s neck with Emma holding her tight. 

“See?” Emma said, gloating just a little. “We can make this better.”

“Fixing is much easier than building.”

“Then we’ll learn.”

“Emma--“

Patting Yinglong’s neck, Emma grinned at her. “We’re building our kingdom because we love our people, the price for that should be easy to pay.”

Regina shook her head, half-impressed, half-exhausted. “I don’t think I can fix another castle today.”

“It’s big enough for everyone for awhile, isn’t it?” Emma stared down at the place that had been meant to be her home. 

“If they don’t mind being a little crowded.”

“Crowded, warm and dry is much better than spread out, wet and muddy, don’t you think?” Emma rubbed her shoulder. “Come on, let’s go tell our queen the good news.”

“Queen Snow White,” Regina said. She guided Yinglong back to the clearing where they’d first landed. “I thought I’d die before ever seeing her crowned.”

“Now you’re pretty glad it’s not you running things, aren’t you?”

“Ruling this rabble was hard enough when they had electricity, indoor plumbing and a twenty-four hour supermarket. Ruling them now would be a nightmare.”

Emma slid off the dragon first again, and offered her arms up to catch Regina. 

“Thank you.”

“You’re not going to chastise me for fussing?”

“You’re protecting someone precious to me too,” Regina said. The secretive joy in her eyes nearly made Emma tear up, and she had to settle for resting a hand on her belly, if only for a moment. They needed to be careful; take this a step at a time. 

Emma released Regina and ran to her mother, explaining how they’d repaired the castle and that there should be room for everyone, at least for awhile. Her parents hugged her and Emma watched Snow and Regina share a look that almost made up for everyone else being so cold. Her mother would make it right. Emma was going to focus on that.

* * *

The first night in the castle, Snow had been too busy to check on them. Regina had helped settle Yinglong in on the stone bridge to the castle. He’d liked the warmth of the road and the huge dragon taking up the entirely causeway did mean they’d be safe for the night, and however long he decided to stick around. 

They’d been exhausted, falling into bed naked rather than bothering with their clothing. Regina enjoyed the ease of lying in bed nude next to Emma. It was warmer, and the Enchanted Forest already had a hint of autumn in the air that made it cool when the sun was down. 

Their bed in the castle, in what had been Prince James’ chambers, was softer than anything they’d slept on since Storybrooke, though Regina was beginning to forget what her own bed had been like. Emma had tried to offer to sleep in the stable, or down with the others where bed rolls covered the great hall, but she was the princess. Snow had insisted and it had been easy enough for Regina to slip unnoticed through a crowd of people who only cared for her existence enough to shy back in fear.

That morning the sun hung low through the stained glass window. Emma’s naked legs wrapped around Regina’s own, sharing the warmth of her body. Regina remembered hearing that pregnancy made one too hot, but she was more often cold. Perhaps the extra blood in her body was cooling her, or something else hormonal. She’d paid very little attention to any of the talk of pregnancy after her marriage to Leopold had been so fruitless. Her mother had spoken of it only rarely, and as a duty: a way of securing one’s legacy, not a process that anyone enjoyed. 

If Henry could not be returned to human form, their baby, Emma’s baby, was their legacy already, even if she hadn’t begun to make Regina’s stomach round out yet. How far along was she? How many weeks had passed since they’d gone through that portal in the ocean? She resorted to counting on Emma’s fingers, which were securely on her stomach, where Emma's hands often spent the night. 

It had taken them seven weeks to reach Qin, then they’d spent nearly a week in port, sailed for another, and another, then fought the creature and taken another week to recover enough to fight it again. 

Eleven weeks? Was that right? Did it matter how carefully she reckoned the timing? There were no ultrasounds here; no week by week pregnancy guides on the internet. She had Emma, Snow and the village midwives, provided the women would even attend the evil queen. Regina mentally chided herself. She’d promised not to refer to herself as evil, even though the habit was as deeply engrained for her as it was for everyone else. If she was right, she had nearly twenty-nine weeks left, just over seven months. 

The air still had the warmth of late summer, but the autumn chill had arrived. Her baby would come in the dead of winter, after the darkest of it had passed, but when snows were heaviest. Perhaps Snow would appreciate the symmetry of her granddaughter arriving as she had: mid-blizzard. 

Regina curled closer to Emma, unwilling to give up the warmth of her body or the comfort of her arms for something as simple as needing to pee. No matter how she tried to ignore it, she did eventually have to get up and run barefoot over the stone floor to the garderobe, which luckily had a wooden seat, but was still cold. 

Perhaps it was her cool skin that woke Emma, not the shifting of Regina’s weight as she returned to bed. Emma opened her arms and drew her in. “Cold,” she mumbled. “Why’d you get up?”

“I had to urinate.”

“Try sleeping on your side,” Emma said, still half-asleep. “Kid doesn’t press on your bladder as much then.”

She had to appreciate Emma’s efficiency when it came to being able to get as much quality time in bed as possible. 

“She can’t really be big enough for that yet.”

“Then drink less water before bed, and don’t let my mom give you tea.”

Regina kissed Emma’s hands, then rolled over to be able to kiss her properly. That woke Emma much better than the cold had. 

“Good morning.”

“We didn’t break in the bed last night.”

Emma giggled, running a hand over Regina’s belly lazily. “We didn’t, did we?” She looked up at the ceiling and sighed at the decor. “You don’t think my parents ever, in here, do you?“

“They were running around the kingdom, conquering. They didn’t have time to do anything in this bed that would make you uncomfortable.”

“Not uncomfortable,” Emma said. “Just weirded out. I mean, we’re going to have their room someday and I was born there.”

“That’s quite normal in this world. It’s only in yours that people move so much.”

Emma ran her fingers through Regina’s hair, smiling at her thoughtfully over the royal pillows. “You don’t wish you were having this baby at home? In your mansion or at the hospital with Dr. Whale--“

Regina wrinkled her nose. “No.”

“Who are we going to have do the delivery part anyway? Do we have doctors or something?”

“Doc delivered you, but I doubt the dwarf will feel the same kind of loyalty to me. As long as you’re there--“

“Of course, I’ll be there. My mom too, I think. If you’d--“

“We’re doing well, Snow and I.”

“Yeah.” Emma seemed surprised, then she grinned. “It’s kinda nice. You two getting along.”

“Thank you.” Regina moved closer, done with talking for the moment. Emma took little convincing, kissing her nearly always heated her blood. Being with her now, safe and finally home, had a sweetness to it. Glancing at the little lion-faced shoes on the table by the bed, Regina rolled onto Emma, kissing down her chest. They were home, and this was right. 

Emma followed her eager pace, kissing hungrily. Already being naked took away the foreplay of undressing, but it allowed for the exploration of skin with fingers and tongues that soon had them both sweating. Throwing off the heavy feather comforter, Regina let the cool air take the sweat from her skin before Emma’s hands made it rise again. Emma's fingers danced, then teased before sliding in to the slickness between Regina's thighs. 

Thrusting, curling then withdrawing her fingers from Emma, Regina used both hands, pushing Emma’s breathing through gasping towards the desperate panting that came before the hardest orgasms. She loved watching Emma come: the way her eyes went dark and wild, the way she thrashed beneath her and the exquisite noises she made. Emma made small sounds, rising in pitch, then falling as she slipped past the peak. She wouldn’t let Emma slip away, and kept circling her clit until she came again, this time gasping in surprise.

Emma lay beneath her, catching her breath while moving her fingers gently across Regina. 

“You tease,” Emma growled. Flipping Regina beneath her, she gave in to her competitive side, slipping her fingers in and out while her thumb sent Regina through an explosive orgasm. She probably should have bit the pillow, because the walls were stone but not even stone absorbed everything. 

Laughing, Emma kissed her while she caught her breath. “Gotcha.”

“I have all these little dots in my vision,” Regina said. Sighing in utter contentment, she relaxed down against Emma's chest. 

“You’re welcome.”

“Emma?” 

“Still here,” Emma teased. “You’re stuck with me.”

“I think the baby’s due in March.”

Emma lay her arm across Regina. “Yeah?”

“I’m not sure, but I think that would be about right.”

“What’s it like here in March?”

“It snows.”

“Henry was a summer baby. It was so hot I thought I was going to sweat him out before he came.” Emma sat up, placing her hands on Regina’s belly, as if framing the baby in the gap between her thumbs and fingers. “She’s probably the size of a walnut or something.”

“Are you always going to compare her to something edible?”

“Wait until she’s melon sized.” Emma rose her hands until they hovered far above Regina’s belly. “You’ll hate it.”

“Maybe I’ll love it.”

“All those limbs taking turns jabbing you in the ribs? Barely being able to move without having to pee--“

“So supportive you are.”

“I’m supportive!” Emma cupped Regina’s breasts with her hands. “See? I’m very supportive of you being pregnant and not me.”

“Except when I’m sick.”

“Well, I’m inconsistent and you seem all right this morning. Maybe we should start every day like this and see how it works out.”

Regina tugged her back down to hug her close. “It’s an idea, as long as your people don’t need you before midday, princess.”

Pulling the comforter over her head, Emma hid. “Oh no.”

“Come on, princess.” Regina purred the title in her most seductive tone. “You could learn to like it.”

“If you say it like that I’ll have to steal you away from the throne room whenever you refer to me.” Emma emerged from beneath the covers. “But that could be okay, though Mom would probably have issues with it.”

“Maybe I need to take Charming aside for some pointers so she's equally distracted.” 

“Not fair,” Emma groaned. “My parents' sex life has to be off limits. It’s bad enough that my mom wanted to remind me that the middle of a pregnancy is the best time.”

“Oh is it?” Regina asked as innocently as she could. 

“Yeah, she was quite, uh, happy for us.”

Regina laughed, almost more at Emma’s discomfort than the idea of Snow supporting their sex life. “She always did have an odd sense of such things.”

Emma pulled her in with an arm, holding her against her side. “How long do you think we have before anyone comes looking for us?”

“I imagine your parents are in a similar mood and we’ve some time still.”

Smiling with wicked intent, Emma ran her fingers across one of Regina’s overly sensitive breasts. “How ever shall we spend it?”

* * *

She’d expected a coronation to be a much fancier affair than Snow’s turned out to be. They’d been back all of three days and the Blue Fairy had insisted that even though they were all living in a newly mended castle and the woods around it that they stop functioning as a loose conglomeration of people and work as a kingdom again. 

Emma had known it was going to happen, that she’d have a role and that once Snow was crowned, her mother would be queen. Knowing was far different than doing. 

They hung flowers from the trees, throwing them onto the grass that led to the throne that had apparently once been King George’s. No one had reported seeing him, and Emma wondered how far away the other kingdoms were. If he was going to have to capture and breed his horses as they were going to, it could be quite awhile before they met anyone from another kingdom.

The crown jewels were missing, vanished somehow between being cursed and uncursed. The dwarves had worked a crown from some of the jade from Qin and fresh branches. Snow really did look like a forest queen wearing it. After she'd been crowned by a group of fairies who hovered over her head. 

Snow wore one of Regina’s dresses from Qin. The grey was darker than Emma had ever seen Snow wear, but it was rich silk and had a fineness to it that fit the occasion. They were nearly friends now, her mother and Regina. Regina had suggested the dress and even helped set the flowers in Snow’s hair so that they fit around the crown. It was nice, watching them and feeling even more part of a family.

“Kneel before Snow White, Queen of the Enchanted Forest, ruler from the east silver river to the far northern sea, and protector of the realm.”

Emma knelt to her mother, resting her knee on the stone. Regina was at her side, eyes cast respectfully downward as she curtsied low. Emma was going to have to learn that at some point, but for now, she knelt as her father did. 

“Thank you, Reul Ghorm. Rise, my people and greet my husband and consort, King David.” Snow placed a crown similar to her own on David’s head and then bid him turn to the crowd.

They knelt again, falling to the ground in reverence of their king. He’d refused the name of James, because it had never been his and asked to rule as David because it had been the name his parents gave him. 

He sat at Snow’s side, his throne nearly as ornate as her own. Snow remained standing, not yet taking her throne. 

“My people, today I make you a promise to rule as wisely and fairly as I can, and I must ask your help in this endeavour. You must not fear me, or shy from telling me when I have overstepped the bounds of my authority. I am your queen and protector, but I am also your servant. I serve the realm, which means that your safety, the freedom for you to lead the lives you choose, and the stability of our land is foremost in my responsibilities. 

“We’ve only just regained our land, and we have much to do before we can say it is ours again. This is work we undertake gladly, as a community, because we are rebuilding our lives together, as we once lived. In the spirit of that togetherness, I make my first decree. 

“As your queen, I pardon all of us and absolve us of all our crimes, in this world before we left and in the other, before we returned. We cannot build a new world, a better world, if we hang on to the past, so I pardon us. If your life was not as you wished it to be, make it better. If you owe apologies, make them and move on. If you’ve been wronged, search your heart for forgiveness, not revenge. 

“Our kingdom was once one of peace and prosperity. Together, we will make it so again.”

Snow took her seat on the throne, staring out at the crowd. The dwarves were the first to rise, clapping with great enthusiasm that spread easily through the meadow. Perhaps more people had regrets from Storybrooke than Emma realised. During the curse, many marriages had been sundered, children had been separated from their parents, and perhaps Snow was right. What they all needed was a fresh start: a clean slate to build the kingdom on.

Emma kept Regina at her side throughout the congratulations, refusing to let her be sent aside with dirty looks or cold stares. Her parents assisted her. Snow kissed Regina’s cheek and her father elegantly kissed her hand. There were little murmurs in the crowd, but no outward dissension. That was a kind of progress.

Rumplestiltskin also had been living with a cold reception from the people of the kingdom, but Belle had his arm and her smile was warm enough to make up for his reptilian stares. Maybe they could make it work. 

After the coronation, they began the feast, sharing what they had with each other. Emma sat at Regina's side, using herself as a buffer. She only left fill her plate again and Ruby found her near the table heaped in fresh bread. 

“How'd you do it?”

“Did what?” Emma asked. Balancing small brown rolls on her wooden plate, she grabbed a few more in case Regina was hungrier than she'd said.

Ruby leaned in close, very close, and whispered: “Regina’s having your baby.”

Emma blinked at her, trying to decide where Ruby had gotten that idea, then it hit her. “You can smell that?”

Ruby pulled Emma further away from the crowd. “She’s covered with you, which could have happened if you were just together, but there’s you inside of her. Like a blending of both of you. I don’t know what else it could be. You got her knocked up.”

“Don’t say it like that.”

“In the family way, up the duff, how do you want me to say it?” 

“Up the duff?” Emma repeated. “Is that how you say it here?”

“I heard it once in the diner.” 

Emma shook her head and walked Ruby away from the crowd, nearly into the trees. “Look, we’re not announcing it yet or anything like that.”

“So she is? And you two are?”

“Yeah, okay, yes, yes. It’s great, I love her. I couldn’t be more excited about the kid, but it’s not for public consumption. Being back here’s hard enough for her and now I’ve gotta be the princess and everything.”

“But how?” Ruby whispered. 

“Magic. I have it, she has it, apparently that’s how it works here.”

“You have magic?” 

Emma wished she had her drink. “Yeah, it turns out I have a lot of it. Regina and I summoned the dragon together everything.”

“You did that?”

“We’re like superheroes together.” 

“You and Regina.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Don’t say her name like that.” 

“Like what?”

“Like it’s going to summon something nasty.” Emma looked over Ruby’s shoulder, making sure no one was close enough to be suspicious. “She’s just Regina.”

“Your Regina.”

Blushing made Emma's face hot. “Fine.”

“What are you two doing all the way over here?” Granny asked.

“Just talking.”

“Well, come talk to everyone else. We’ve all missed Emma and would love to her stories of this far off land where she found the dragon.”

Emma allowed herself to be pulled into the conversation, sneaking her hand under the table to hold Regina’s when no one could see. It would be so much easier just to be honest, let the shit hit the fan and work it out, but Snow had a plan, and Emma wasn’t going to argue with the queen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost everyone's home, Snow has a plan to help the kingdom accept Emma and Regina's relationship and there's not much left.


	15. Chapter 15

Emma flopped down on the bed, not even bothering to take off her boots. “Meetings are exhausting.”

Though her own day had been very quiet, Regina sat down next to her, sympathetic to her plight. “I know.”

“We don’t even have that much to be meeting about,” Emma groaned. “There’s no town. We’re still planning a town. We spent all afternoon arguing about what buildings we need to complete first and whether or not we need a bathhouse.”

“A bathhouse?” 

“Yeah,” Emma sat up, pulled off her boots and threw them down on the floor. 

Regina retrieved the abandoned boots and set them on the rug by the door, then returned to the bed. 

“I would have picked them up eventually.”

“Maybe I did it to be nice,” Regina said. She took one of Emma’s feet into her lap, pulled off her sock and started to massage the ball of her foot. “I can be nice.”

Sighing in pleasure, Emma grinned. “You can be very nice.” Thinking about sex distracted Emma for quite a while before she returned to her rant. “So, the bathhouse. Belle found it in a book, and rather than try to give everyone indoor plumbing, we’re going to build a big bathhouse in the centre of town, so everyone has a chance to get clean. The blueprints she drew are beautiful, and I think it’ll really be great for everyone to have somewhere with hot water.”

“All right, that sounds positive so far.” 

“But do we build that, or the blacksmith’s hall, or a market, because as soon as we have a market we start collecting taxes and we need taxes so we can rebuild the town and the rest of the meeting pretty much went in a circle around that idea. The dwarves are working as hard as they can to quarry stone and we have our woodsmen making boards, but how to we allocate which building gets started first?” 

“Do you have to start only one?” 

Emma flopped back on the bed again, staring at the intricately painted ceiling. “We have so many people farming that the people we have available for construction are limited at the moment. We can’t really cut back on farming because most people showed up here in the clothes they had on and nearby kingdoms haven’t done well because until the curse was broken they were next to a wasteland full of chimera, trolls and ogres.”

Regina rubbed her fingers across the delicate bones of Emma’s foot, easing her way along the tendons. “What did your mother decide?”

“To put the market hall first, so we can start trading for what we need.” Emma switched her feet, letting Regina take the left into her lap. “I think the town would smell a bit better if we put the bathhouse closer to the top of the list, but maybe we can get it done before the winter comes and we’re all trapped indoors together, because individual houses for families were pretty far down on that list.”

Regina worked her way along Emma’s toes. “Why rush when everyone can live in the castle like one big school field trip?” 

“Something like that.” Emma moaned in satisfaction, shutting her eyes as Regina found a tender spot. “You’re good at this.”

“Taking care of your feet is important.” Regina returned Emma’s socks to her feet, sliding them back on with care. “When I first arrived in Storybrooke, it took me weeks before I could wear most of the shoes in my closet for more than an hour or so without wanting to rip them off my feet.”

Emma stared at her, shaking her head in disbelief. “You? You used to garden in high heels.”

“That was after twenty-eight years of practice. It’s not as if I had gardening clogs in my closet.” 

Smirking, Emma rolled over onto her side, watching with that satisfied expression of hers. “Does Prada make gardening clogs?” 

“Not in this world, or the other. The curse gave me many beautiful things. I had to adapt to be able to use them.” 

Sliding off the bed so she sat on the floor, Emma grabbed one of Regina’s feet and removed her slipper. “Teach me this foot rub thing.”

“Teach you?” Regina rested her hand on the top of Emma’s head. “That’s the first time I’ve massaged anyone’s feet but my own.”

“Seriously?” The way Emma looked up at her with such surprise was one of the sweetest parts of her. Regina often wondered what kind of life Emma imagined she had. Regina was as lonely in Storybrooke as she’d ever been in her own world and it was worse without her father. Adopting Henry had been a desperate act that saved her from the madness of true solitude.

“Who do you think I had around me? The former Sheriff really wasn’t the type for foot massages.”

Emma’s hands cradled her foot, warm against her skin. “You don’t have to tell me how to do it, I just thought it would be nice. I’ve heard foot rubs are a thing couples do.”

They were a couple and even though it was new and confusing for both of them, they could do it right if they gave themselves a chance. Regina slid to the edge of the bed, so she could see over Emma’s shoulder. “Start in the middle and work your way out. The top is sensitive and the skin is thin, so you have to be more gentle. When you work on the sole, the skin is thick so you can push a lot harder.”

Stronger than she thought, Emma’s fingers worked their way up from her toes, stroking up towards her ankle. 

“This is kinda fun,” Emma said. “You have cute toes.”

“Is this where you confess your foot fetish?”

“Says the woman who must have had a whole closet of shoes back in Storybrooke.” Emma’s thumbs pressed into her heel and the little sighs Emma made a moment ago made perfect sense. It did feel rather incredible to have someone’s deft fingers against her skin. Rubbing her own feet had been part of maintaining her body; having Emma do it was deeply pleasant. 

“It’s not like I wrote that into my curse. Clothing, shoes, makeup: they all have a place in the construction of wealth and power, which was what I wanted.”

“Are you going to miss it all?”

Regina bit back the little moan that Emma’s touch brought to her throat. “Not really. It’s all superficial trappings of a lie, isn’t it? I was never elected mayor or earned the money in my bank account.”

“You think I earned this?” Emma waved her hand around the room. 

“You did summon a dragon.”

“Half a dragon,” Emma said. Her strong fingers rubbed their way up Regina’s ankle and then towards the back of her knee and Regina squirmed away before she could be tickled.

“This isn’t a meritocracy, dear. You’ll inherit the responsibilities of the crown and the wealth that comes with them because of whom you were born.” 

Emma returned her hands to Regina’s foot, promising not to tickle her any more. “Probably not for long though, right? Snow’s barely any older than I am. Queens can rule a really long time.”

“You’d be happy to live as the crown princess all of your life, wouldn’t you?”

“Yeah. Less responsibility for me to make a mess of.” 

Emma eased Regina’s foot back into her slipper and took the other one. More confident now, Emma put more strength into her fingers. Regina lay back on the bed, staring up at the ostentatious gold leaf on the ceiling that made Emma so uncomfortable. 

“I don’t know why you’re so convinced you won’t be a fair ruler. You rose to your responsibilities as Sheriff. Everyone is very impressed with you.”

“I’m sure a lot of that is post-curse-breaking good will. That’ll run out when I prove I can’t do it.”

Startled, Regina moved her foot and Emma tugged it back into her lap. She pressed her fist against the arch of Regina’s foot and gently rolled the fine bones between her hands. 

“Emma, there’s very little you can’t do.”

“I need to understand the economics of a quasi-medieval world that I’ve never lived in, the foreign affairs of kingdoms I’ve never visited, the history of a people I don’t share and somehow keep it all together long enough for someone else to inherit the mess from me.” Emma held Regina’s foot close, as if somehow that could save her from the world that wanted so much from her. 

“It’s not as if your mother has an encyclopaedic knowledge of all of those things, nor do any of the other rulers in this land. They have advisors for every subject, councils and libraries. A good ruler does the best for their kingdom with each challenge, a bad one does what they want, regardless of the consequences. I have no doubt you will chose the former.”

Emma stroked the top of her foot, putting so much love into the gesture that Regina sat up to look down at her again, just for the beauty of her face. “You say that like you know.”

“I was both, Emma. I made my kingdom wealthy and terrified my people into submission. They mocked me while I kept them safe from ogres and the kingdoms in the south looking to expand towards the sea. Perhaps if I’d focused my efforts on making their lives better I could have improved their lot and they would have loved me instead of fearing me.” 

Lifting herself back up to the bed, Emma took both of her hands. “You know, at least we’re balanced. I beat myself up about the future, and you use the past.”

Regina looked down at their joined fingers and wished she knew a way to show Emma how wonderfully she’d rule, someday. 

“My mother wanted me to be queen as soon as I was born. She named me for it. She raised me to be queen, and only spoke about the power. Being queen meant ruling and forcing others to kneel. She never talked of responsibility or the stewardship of the people. When I was queen, no one wanted me to rule. I had to force them kneel before me, and, after a time, that’s what I did. I was never like Snow. They never knelt willingly and sometimes, when I looked over them, all I could think of was how empty it all was. Any of my subjects would have killed me if they’d had the chance and that's not power.”

Emma rose on her knees and reached for her face, resting her hand on Regina’s cheek. 

Leaning into it, Regina smiled, weary of the world. “It won’t be like that for you. You’ve never wanted power and I think it’s the wanting, that type of naked desire, that makes power the hardest to hold. I kept my kingdom in an iron grip so it couldn’t slip away from me like everyone else. You won’t do that. Power means little to you.”

“Shouldn’t that make me the worst possible queen? All it means to me is a whole lot of responsibilities that I may not be able to live up to.”

Regina kissed Emma’s cheek. “Have you talked to your mother about this?”

“She thinks I need practice.”

“More council meetings and court functions?”

Emma remained on the floor, still between Regina’s legs. “Such as court is at the moment.” 

“Just because it’s around a wooden table doesn’t mean it is not court.” 

Emma ran her hands across Regina’s legs, then brought them to her waist. “I wish you came with me.”

“I think I’d be more of a distraction than anything else and though you love to be distracted, perhaps it’s important to get something accomplished.” 

Emma offered her hands to pull Regina up from the bed. “Walk with me? I’m all restless.”

“I thought you were tired.”

Emma kept Regina’s hand in hers until the doorway, then she reluctantly released it. “They’re connected sometimes.” 

Regina wasn’t sure how well they were hiding anything, considering that they spent so much time together. Releasing their hands felt like a token effort of secrecy that hid nothing. She didn’t take Emma’s hand again, and simply walked beside her as they left the quiet corridors surrounding the royal apartments. 

The rest of the castle was crowded with people, even with the late afternoon sun still overhead. 

The Widow Lucas had the unenviable task of sorting everyone who needed accommodation into the available spaces of the castle and her voice rose to threaten the crossbow as a solution more than once as Emma and Regina passed. She cast Emma a smile and her eyes narrowed at Regina. She kept her gaze on her, following her until Emma and Regina were out of the Great Hall. She suspected something. Emma would probably just tell her she was paranoid if she brought it up.

They passed the wolf, Ruby, on the way out to the drawbridge and she gave them both such an odd look that Regina stopped walking and waited for Emma to explain. 

Emma sighed; glanced quickly around to make sure they were far enough away not to be heard. “Ruby knows.”

“About us?”

“She smelled the baby.”

“What?” Regina brought her hand to her belly, almost without thinking. Ruby was no threat, but she felt exposed, as if others knowing about the child put her in danger. 

Emma put a hand on her back and steered her out, further away from the people in the castle. “I think it’s a wolf thing. She asked me about you, about us, and then she told me she could smell the baby inside of you. I had to confirm it. No one else knows and she said she wouldn’t tell anyone, but it felt weird to talk about it.”

“Oh?” 

“I know it’s not a secret, not really, but I guess I liked it being between us.”

“And your parents.” Regina took Emma’s arm from her back and wrapped it with her own. They’d have to face it all, eventually. “It’s all right.”

“I just don’t know how to talk about us. I don’t want us to be a secret, but I don’t want to have to justify our relationship to the entire kingdom.”

Regina took a long look at the woman she loved. Emma was always trying to protect her and it was still so strange that anyone would make the effort on her behalf. “We’re omitting the truth of our relationship rather than intentionally concealing it, if that feels any better to you. We can wait and see what your mother is planning to do. It may be easier for everyone to leave it in Snow’s hands.“

Emma led them to the very edge of the bridge, looking down at the water. “I don’t want to hide you.”

“I’m hardly hidden.”

“I want to kiss you in the courtyard, and hold hands, and--“ Emma stopped, lifting Regina’s hand to toy with Snow’s ring. “I want to do this right.”

“And you don’t think Snow’s plan will be right?”

“I didn’t know she planned!” Emma picked up a loose stone and tossed it down into the water. “She’s my mother and I’ve always wanted what I have right now, but I don’t know her. I don’t know how she is as queen. I just got used to living with her as a friend, then my dad moved in too and suddenly I had this whole little family unit and now we’re in charge of a kingdom. I don’t know what I’m doing here. Somedays the only thing that’s right is you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah.”

Regina beamed, then leaned just close enough to kiss Emma’s lips. “I love you too.”

That made Emma smile and the easy way her eyes lit made Regina’s heart that much lighter. 

Emma crossed her arms over her chest, as if she were trying to steel herself against what she feared. “I want our kid to have two parents, stability, and a home that’s always there for her.” 

Memories of her own abandonment stung, but imagining what Emma had been through was worse. Emma had never left her: not to the fire so long ago, not to the Wraith, not even when it was in Emma’s best interest to do so, and that made it almost easy to trust her now. Trust came so rarely to Regina that she almost didn’t know what to do with it. “Our baby will have us, Henry and your parents. We can take what’s between us one day at a time, if that’s what you want.”

Emma’s face fell, as if she could sense Regina’s hesitation and blamed herself. “No, no, Regina, I’m not afraid, not of being with you. I always thought I wouldn’t be any good at the couple thing. I never even spent the night after I had sex, but then I did, with you. I didn’t want to risk falling in love because it could hurt so much. I’ve been afraid of losing anything and everyone, but I’m not going to lose you.”

“You shall not.” 

“Then we should let Snow marry us.” The breath Regina hadn’t even realised she was holding slipped from her. She didn’t want to wait but she would have. She would have waited years for Emma, if that was what was needed.

Watching her, Emma nodded, the conviction on her face strong enough to convince the butterflies in Regina’s stomach to calm. “We’re committed, you and me, we’re doing this together. I don’t think I really care what anyone else calls it.” She took Regina’s hand and kissed it, just above the ring on her finger. “My dad said true love follows this ring, and now that you’ve got it, maybe that’s where we’re headed. You, me and a big, fairy tale, true love wedding. ”

Regina nodded at first, unwilling to risk speech through her choked throat. She swallowed around the lump. “You really think so?”

“I think we owe it to ourselves to give it a shot, don’t you?” Emma wiped the solitary tear from Regina’s cheek and started down the bridge towards the trees, still arm in arm with Regina. She’d given up on anyone caring if they saw. “It’s probably the best way to make people accept us. Enshrine it in law and put my mother’s royal seal of approval on it. That’s probably what her plan is. Some kind of big public wedding.”

Regina had already given the kingdom one wedding that Snow White had wanted. It was strange to imagine sharing that desire with her now. 

Emma’s thoughts had moved on. “So, do you want to tell anyone about the baby? Kathryn- Abigail I mean, or maybe Dr. Hopper?“

“I don’t have anyone to tell,” Regina answered. She’d said it gently, but Emma pulled her a little closer out of sympathy. “I don’t mind if you want to, tell people, I mean. We have so many magical creatures around us who can sense such things that everyone’s probably going to know before too long.” Smiling at Emma, she adored her for changing the subject before either of them admitted how much they wanted the whole fairy tale, true love and all.

“I don’t know.” Emma looked Regina up and down, like a detective. “You’re not showing at all, except for the whole super-cleavage thing, and I think that’s mostly just constantly noticed by me.”

Regina started to cover her chest, self-consciously, but glared at Emma instead. “It’s still early.”

“Honestly? I can’t wait for you to show. You’re going to be beautiful.” Emma put a finger over her lips before she could protest. “You always are, but this is special. You’re going to get that glow and I won’t be the only one who can’t stop staring at you.”

She’d always felt like an artwork whenever anyone called her beautiful because it was less about her and more a reflection on her creator. Regina had been dressed to be lovely, taught to mind her bearing and manner, but rarely was she appreciated for those qualities being her own work. Cora saw her beauty as part of all Cora had done to advance Regina’s station.

Emma always saw her. Perhaps in the beginning she’d been taken in by Regina’s carefully maintained facade, but now Emma knew her beyond her barriers and still found her beautiful.

They walked all the way down to the town and spoke about what wasn’t yet there with hope. With Emma’s hand in hers, she could see the promise in the buildings yet to be erected. When Emma kissed her against in tree, in what was going to become the middle of the bathhouse, that new building became her favourite.

* * *

Yinglong remained with them for several days, eating the fish from the lake surrounding the castle and learning the lay of their lands. When he took off for points unknown, they put the pearl in a place of honour in the castle and hoped it would not be their last meeting. He didn’t seem to be leaving forever. When he nudged against them in goodbye, Emma was sure she’d see him again. 

Without the dragon, Emma’s days passed in a blur of meetings. Regina spent several insular days rearranging their room and returning the nursery that would have been Emma’s to readiness. She cleaned, organised and repaired Emma’s toys, barely seen by anyone. Emma sensed Snow’s hand in how Regina had been left in peace and appreciated the gesture. 

When Ruby suggested Regina join their border patrols while at one of the unending meetings, Emma had wanted to hug her. It made sense, Regina was incredibly deadly to ogres, chimera and anything else they could come across, but it was that she’d been asked for, not assigned by Snow, that made Emma so happy. She’d been afraid at first that Ruby would have told someone, and Emma had several nightmares where angry mobs took Regina from their bed, but it had been quiet. 

The hunters who went with Ruby were initially suspicious, and Ruby and Regina had ended up being their own team for many days until several ogres came at once and Regina had proved her accuracy. After that she dressed for morning patrol in her armour and left before Emma dragged herself down to the first meeting of the day. 

She was jealous of the wear Regina’s armour was getting and the days Emma was able to slip away and be the former sheriff instead of the crown princess were her favourites. She had much to learn, more manoeuvres with a blade, the basics of archery and eventually, horseback riding because there was no police cruiser for her. 

The horses who’d been left behind when the curse took the land had gone feral, running in wild herds through the forest. David had led their taming with Regina eager to assist, and slowly, they were making progress. Emma and Regina had one of their first arguments then, over the safety of working with wild horses in Regina’s condition, but life was fraught with dangers and in the end, Emma had agreed to trust her skills to keep her safe. 

Emma had brought her back from the brink of death once and Regina was certain that Emma could heal the damage a fall from a horse would do. Emma wasn’t sure. She tried to tell herself that it was entirely possible that the baby conceived with magic was a little more hardy than one created with non-magical means, or that they’d be able to heal any damage being thrown from a horse might cause. Neither of them knew, so they stumbled through together. 

Emma’s healing training had been shifted to the fairies, who’d been insistent that Emma learn from them. She’d repeated her lessons to Regina every evening until she’d finally demanded they be taught together and made it an order.

She’d called herself the princess then, which felt like the equivalent of pulling rank, but it was idiotic of the fairies to refuse to teach someone of Regina’s power something so useful. They’d grumbled, and even gone to Snow to protest, but Emma gotten what she wanted and Regina learned with her. Between her mother’s court, council and her constant training, Emma returned to bed each night as exhausted as Regina, without the physical excuse of the baby to blame. 

Days became weeks, and the market hall rose in the new square, taking shape as the streets expanded in a grid around it. Without horses tame enough for the clearing of trees and rocks, Emma and Regina had volunteered their abilities. At first everyone had watched from a distance, long conditioned to be afraid of the use of magic by anyone but fairies, then, slowly, they’d crept closer. Trying to burn a road system through the thick green forest was an exercise in strength and working hand in hand only brought them closer. 

They’d tried to be discreet. Working together was a necessity, they said, not their preferred method. Yet magic heated their blood and drawing on the emotions they needed to cast filled them both with love and affection that was hard to hide. Ignoring that and pretending to be no more than friends was incredibly difficult, and Emma suspected the whole work crew had their own theories, but she tried not to focus on herself as a source of gossip.

She and Regina made a good team and the whole kingdom was starting to see it. Perhaps that had been Snow’s plan, simply to let them slowly bring the kingdom around. Snow didn’t mention it again, and Emma had time to grow a little more comfortable with the idea of a fairy tale wedding. If they did it soon, it would have to be somewhat simple, and she liked that more than the idea of all the possible pageantry. 

Triton’s advance scouts arrived three weeks after they’d come in on the dragon. Henry, Triton and his entourage were still two weeks away from the Enchanted Kingdom’s shores, but once they knew they were coming, Snow had taken them both aside and again spoke of their marriage. 

Emma wanted to refuse, because it felt selfish to devote so much energy to her own wedding, but Snow reminded her that the kingdom needed to live, not only survive, and planning a wedding would distract from the chaos of their daily existence. 

Emma and Regina went along with it, denying they were anything more than working partners until Snow deemed it wise to announce their betrothal. As long as Henry was there, they didn’t care when it happened. They were going to marry, with Henry at their side, and life would be truly real. Emma spent more than a few moments fantasising about family life before she had to return her thoughts to the discussion of the moment. 

“When King Triton and his delegation arrive, we will need to appoint an ambassador to their land, someone willing to live as merfolk for a time.” Snow looked across her advisors and nodded to Jiminy at the door. “Send in our candidate.”

Emma had wondered who’d volunteer to live with the merfolk. She’d thought that maybe one of the dwarves, or someone who particularly disliked the cramped living conditions would want to leave, but when Neal- Baelfire walked in to the council chamber, it made sense. He’d taken Henry’s transformation hard, blaming her and Regina for exposing the kid to magic he wasn’t ready for and she’d let him rail at her. Henry’s transformation was her fault, but it had also been pretty damn heroic of the kid to save her magic. He was growing up so fast in this world. When she pictured his face, Emma barely recognised the little boy who’d come looking for her to break the curse. 

“I volunteer to serve as ambassador to the marine kingdom. My father, Rumplestiltskin, has agreed to transform me if Triton does not wish to do it himself. I’ve already experienced some of their world, and I think Henry will be happy to show me more of it.”

Maybe it was right, letting Henry’s father take a more major role in his life for awhile. Henry deserved to get to know his dad, and maybe they’d have the whole experience to bond over. Besides, mermaids were probably a great way to get over the fiancee who’d ended up being a manipulative scam artist. 

Baelfire was appointed ambassador with unanimous agreement. Emma could already predict the up coming argument about how Baelfire’s constant presence might influence their son, but it would calm when Regina saw how happy Henry was. He needed friends who were his age and Ariel and her sisters had been such a help to the lonely little boy who’d spent so much time with adults. 

Emma listened as the meeting went on to discussions of the other neighbouring kingdoms, trying to take notes, but her handwriting with the damn quill was so awful that all she had was a mass of ink blots and scratches. She crumpled the parchment and tossed it aside during one of the breaks, taking a fresh piece and trying to look like a princess, even though she had inkstained fingers. 

“We need something in the mines,” Grumpy said. He’d been talking about the search for fairy dust while Emma flattened out her parchment. “Maybe we can trade for some blasting powder until we can make our own. There are chunks of rock we just can’t get through without some fire power.”

Snow nodded to him, then her gaze fell on Emma. “Have you considered asking our resident magical experts for help? We’ve all seen Emma and Regina clearing the roadways, perhaps they would be willing to help clear your tunnels.”

“The Evil Queen, underground in a mining tunnel?” Doc shook his head. “No thank you, unless it’s a permanent visit for her.”

“We’re not referring to Regina as the evil queen,” Emma corrected him. She glanced at her mother, then tried to soften her tone. She was sick of hearing ‘the Evil Queen’ was dangerous and couldn’t be trusted. She trusted Regina more than she trusted the dwarves. “Snow White is our only queen and Regina has been nothing but helpful to the kingdom since she arrived. She’s also been pardoned. I don’t know what else you want.”

“Emma--“

Princesses didn’t snap at their subjects. She started to mumble that she was sorry and bit it back. They didn’t apologise either, not unless they were truly at fault. Princesses had many rules and Emma would eventually get them all right.

Snow smiled and Emma recognised the ‘you will do as I suggest’ iron behind it. “If you’re not comfortable with Regina’s assistance, I’m sure Emma will be willing to help. It’ll be half as fast, but it is your choice to prioritise old grudges over efficiency.”

Implying weakness in the dwarves’ work ethic made them both bristle, but Snow was queen. 

“Princess Emma’s assistance would be welcome, your majesty,” Doc said. Grumpy glared back at Snow but she cared little for his disdain. 

Emma scrawled ‘be dynamite’ on her list of tasks. Regina would be much more helpful. Just having her there made Emma’s powers stronger and more controlled. The Blue Fairy insisted that Emma would become more self-reliant on her magic with time, but she didn’t understand love magic. Fairies used fairy dust because precious diamonds bore the cost of their magic for them. They didn’t need to draw on emotions to pay as Emma and Regina did. When Emma was tired it was hard to love the kingdom enough to blast another damn tree out of the way, or move another boulder. 

She never grew tired of loving Regina. No one saw that but Regina, and perhaps her parents. Sometimes she wanted to scream at the whole damn kingdom that Regina’s love made her stronger, more capable and steady. She was a better person for loving her, even if the kingdom was far from accepting that. 

Old fears could not be pardoned. As much as Snow wanted to make a new start, it was terror that kept the dwarves from trusting Regina. So Emma would go down into the mine alone. She’d do it, because everything was just another duty of the princess. Princesses didn’t get weekends off nor could they say no to the night shift. Being the only one who’d never been ‘evil’ of the only three people who didn’t need diamonds to power their magic meant Emma’s brand new magical skills were fucking popular. 

How much would the kingdom squirm if they knew Emma’s abilities came from being so in love with the Evil Queen that she wanted to scream it from the castle’s battlements? 

Emma smirked at that and was a good little princess for the rest of the meeting.

* * *

Regina had nearly forgotten the nausea that assaulted her when she woke up with it again. It had been weeks since she’d needed to deal with her unruly stomach, and she’d been hoping it was over. She curled on her side, pulling Emma’s arm over her chest. Perhaps if she fell asleep again, her stomach would settle by the time she woke up. 

That proved to be wishful thinking. She couldn’t sleep, even though the dawn had not yet done more than colour the horizon. Emma slept on beside her, breathing slowly. Sometimes she sounded so much like Henry, muttering in her sleep, snoring the way he did. 

Henry would arrive in eight days time, surrounded by merfolk. Had he missed her as much as she’d missed him? The old jealousy that he’d be more excited to see Emma rose in her chest, but faded. Henry’s relationship with Emma would help him if anything went wrong. Emma had magic, and perhaps between the two of them it was enough to heal any complications that might arise as her pregnancy continued. Having a child was not without risk, and If Henry found out how dangerous it was here, their relationship would be more strained than it already was. 

Her pregnancy was still strange for him. Her weakness of any kind had not been part of his world and she’d raised him to expect strength from her always. She had hoped that the more unpleasant early symptoms of pregnancy would have been gone by now. Meeting Henry without worrying about her too-fragile stomach would have been nice. 

Maybe if she could make it through today, her morning sickness would disappear back where it had come from. Forcing herself to lie still, Regina waited to see if she could beat it through force of will. Her nausea grew within her, strengthening itself like a living thing until the burning rose in the back of her throat. When she risked vomiting on the floor, she left the bed. 

For a moment, she missed the sea air when she threw up into the stone channel of the garderobe. Hook and his ship were on the other side of the world, but the twisting of her stomach reminded her of the deck of his ship, and Emma sitting next to her.

She hadn’t been away from the bed long when Emma’s bare feet padded across the stone towards her. Emma crouched beside her, rubbing her hand slowly across her back.

“I thought you were past this,” Emma said. She put one cold hand on the back of Regina’s neck and simply sat beside her, waiting. 

Once empty, her stomach quieted slightly, though her throat burned. “I thought I was.” 

“Did you eat anything odd?”

Regina patted Emma’s bare knee. “You make it sound like I’ve been unable to control myself and devoured part of the table. You had dinner with me. You ate from my plate.”

“You left your dinner unfinished.”

“I felt--“

“Peculiar?”

Regina shook her head a few inches, careful not to move too quickly. “Tired. More tired than hungry.”

“I thought you were past that too.” Emma’s kiss on her forehead gently made the cold sweat nearly forgettable. 

“You just want the rumoured increase in sex drive to kick in.”

“Don’t you?” Emma’s grin was followed by another kiss, this time on her temple, and being sick with her there wasn’t nearly so bad. 

They sat there as the sun rose. Emma dragged over a cushion from the bed and after some adjusting, Regina ended up with her head in Emma’s lap, with Emma’s hand running slowly over her hair. 

“Do you want to skip your patrol today? I think Ruby would understand.”

“No, no. If I stay here, you’ll want to miss clearing the mine for the dwarves.”

“We could both stay here and then clear the mine tomorrow, together.”

As nice as the thought was, Regina didn’t feel like arguing with the dwarves. She was wanted on the border patrol and there were the horses to work with that afternoon. Proving again that she wasn’t the ‘Evil Queen’ could wait another day. It would probably only turn her stomach all the more to have to put up with the stares she still got from most of the people in town. 

“I’m fine. I can go with Ruby.”

“She’ll tell me if you throw up in the woods.” 

Regina turned her head, looking up at Emma’s face. “And you’ll do what with that knowledge?”

"Worry? Fuss over you when you get back."

"And you wouldn't have done that anyway?" Regina lifted her hand towards Emma's face and Emma caught it partway. 

"I'll be able to fuss with ammunition."

Regina lowered their hands to her mouth and kissed Emma's fingers. "You're hardly subtle now. It's a wonder everyone doesn't already know something's wrong with me." She shut her eyes and listened to the birds outside their windows. "Unless it pleases them to imagine me ill."

"Regina--"

"I'm sorry." 

"You're hardly helping the situation if you imagine they all hate you."

"If my imagination was really that good, I'd be able to imagine my way off of the floor." 

Emma leaned down to kiss her forehead. "I wish I could help."

"You help." Regina promised her. "You're here. No one's every sat with me like you do."

"This is our baby, so we do it together." Emma shifted, lifting her knee up towards her chest. "One of my foster fathers had cancer and his wife sat with him in the bathroom all the time while he had chemo. I don't know if he got better or not, but I remember her sitting with him. They were a cute couple."

Regina sat up, slowly trusting herself to remain sitting without vomiting again. "And they sent you back?"

Wrapping her arms around her shoulders, Emma held her close. "He had cancer. No one wants a kid around for that." 

"I want you around."

Emma's lips were just in front of her ear. "I love you too."

* * *

"You didn't have to come," Ruby said. 

Regina tried not to feel like she was being studied like a sick deer about to be thinned from the herd. She hadn't thrown up since she left the castle, but she'd been close a few times, especially when they'd walked past the mine. Emma hadn't wanted to let her go, but the fresh air was supposed to help and all the dwarves were waiting for Emma. They'd stolen a kiss in the shadowy entrance to the mine, and though she'd felt like hell, it had been one of the first times she'd ever sent her love off to work. It seemed so normal, aside from the armour, daggers and the magic book clutched under Emma's arm. 

This was their normal: no offices, no working lunches and werewolf partners who saw through everything. 

"I couldn't sit around the castle all day." 

Ruby nodded, that she seemed to understand. "It's easier to pretend you're okay when you're doing something, isn't it?"

"I'm fine," Regina insisted. She'd kept pace with Ruby all morning and only clung to a tree twice when her head spun. She'd improved steadily as the morning had gone on, as if being deeper in the woods had helped. 

"I'm not going to go running to Emma." Ruby passed her the waterskin. "As long as you don't get us killed by ogres, I don't care if you want to throw up in the woods." 

There was a kindness in Ruby's face that Regina would have sneered at a few months ago. Now, she stared at her and took a sip of water before handing back the skin. 

"Emma's worried about you."

"She knows I'm fine."

Ruby shrugged, then pointed down the ancient stone wall that led to the border of the kingdom. They followed it on the dirt path, listening for the ogres in the underbrush. Ruby could usually smell them well before they attacked, and Regina had to admit they made a good team. Ruby's senses were acute and she could usually give Regina plenty of time to plan her attack. It had been quiet this morning and they hadn't seen anything more exciting than a pheasant. 

They walked in silence as the sun rose higher, passing the halfway point of their loop. Ruby stared at her often, glancing at her when Regina's back was turned. The woods smelt of pine and dry leaves. The trees overhead had already started to change. There was more yellow in some of the trees than green and the air was crisp. 

"I'm hardly going to break," she said back towards Ruby. "Nor do I need your concern."

"Actually I--" Ruby stopped. "Nevermind."

She'd been too harsh. Regina stopped walking and waited for Ruby to stand beside her. She had that look like a frightened horse and Regina sighed. She could learn to do this. 

"What?"

"I shouldn't ask."

"You've already begun."

"How'd you do it?" 

Regina hadn't expected that. She'd readied herself to explain that she hadn't corrupted Emma, nor had she used magic to seduce her or whatever else she'd be accused of. Ruby wasn't angry, in fact the set of her lips was expectant, even curious. 

"Do what?"

"You and Emma." 

Regina had to laugh. That was the last question she’d anticipated. “If you’re going to ask me how Emma and I engage in sexual intercourse, perhaps you ought to approach your grandmother for a detailed explanation of human breeding.“

“No, no.” Ruby blushed and ignored Regina’s stab at her unusual heritage. “Not that. How’d she get you pregnant? I didn’t know that could happen to anyone but fairies.”

Toying with the acerbic reply she bit back, Regina reminded herself Ruby was most likely trying to be nice and that it would behove her to learn to deal with that. 

She stepped into the clearing, letting the sun warm her face. “My attempt to stop the trigger from destroying Storybrooke nearly killed me. Emma’s magic is more powerful than she realises. When she saved my life, she used more magic than she needed and created a life from both of ours instead of just saving mine.”

“So you weren’t together?”

“No.” It was easier to talk to the wolf if she didn’t look at her, so Regina kept her gaze on the trees. “That came later.”

“After you knew?”

“Emma knew before I did,” Regina said, finally finding the courage to look at Ruby while they spoke. “To be entirely honest, I thought Henry was the only child that I would ever have.”

“Then you were pregnant.”

“Yes.” She was probably supposed to smile, or something. Regina hoped they weren’t about to hug. She was still trying to accept Snow’s embraces without flinching and wasn’t ready to start accepting affection from werewolves as well. 

“And you’re happy?” 

Regina’s smile overtook her before she realised her control had slipped. “Yes, incredibly so. Emma and I have a good partnership and we’re excited to raise another child together.” 

Bobbing her head, Ruby took that in. “Kind of like Henry, but you’ll get to start from the beginning.”

“Emma hasn’t had the opportunity to watch a child grow and I’ve never been pregnant. It’s a learning curve for both of us.”

“You thought you were barren,” Ruby said. She covered her mouth as soon as the word was out. “Sorry.”

Snow must have told her, or perhaps it really had been the gossip throughout the kingdom that Leopold’s pretty wife couldn’t give him another child. Regina tried to stop herself from stiffening. She wasn’t in any danger from this girl. No one was going to mock her for her inability to have a child then. It didn’t matter now. 

“I’m sorry,” Ruby repeated. “I didn’t mean to bring anything up.”

“I once wished for a child with magic like my own, so I could teach him or her what I had learned. As the years passed with Snow’s father, I resigned myself to the fact that I was alone and that I would always be.”

Ruby’s sympathy did not bring anger into Regina’s chest. She’d fully expected to bristle and walk away from Ruby before anything more personal was said, but instead Regina still stood there, continuing the conversation. 

“But now you have Emma.” Ruby almost sounded happy about that. Was that possible? Could anyone want the saviour to be with her? 

“And I never would have were it not for the Dark Curse. Henry and our baby would never have existed had I not thrown us all out of this land, into the other world.”

Ruby nodded, then smiled as she looked out over the woods. “And now we’re home, and you and Emma are getting married.” She pointed at Regina’s hand, her sharp eyes on the ring Regina had just tried to hide. “I know that ring. Queen Snow must have given it to Emma to give to you.” 

“You don’t think I stole it?”

Ruby’s smirk was almost friendly. “Snow told me that her ring followed true love. If she gave it to Emma for you, then you really must have changed.”

No one would ever believe that she had been Regina the whole time; that Regina’s pain fuelled her rise into darkness. The Evil Queen was part of her, one that ached the most, but still her. Only Emma was even close to that truth because everyone else would only say that she had changed. Regina’s armour hid the shrug of her shoulders. 

“For whatever reason, Snow believes in us.”

“Then I do,” Ruby replied. 

Regina nearly sneered. The belief of a wolf in the magic of true love should have meant little to her, but she smiled, almost without allowing herself to do so. It came easier than she thought. Perhaps Emma was right and she wouldn't always be hated. True love meant everything to the kingdom. If that was how Emma loved her; if Regina was even capable of loving that deeply, that was proof undeniable that she had not corrupted the saviour in some fashion.

"Really?"

"Emma's happier than I've ever seen her. You make her happy, that's enough for me."

Dogs were stupidly loyal creatures after all, perhaps it was the same with wolves. 

"All right," Regina said aloud. "Thank you."

"No problem. Besides, if you really responded to accidentally being knocked up by falling in love with her, you're not who I thought you were. I'd probably want to rip the throat out of anyone who did that to me."

She laughed because that was funny. She'd never wanted to hurt Emma, not even when she was most confused by what had happened. Emma was her constant. "Perhaps I'm more of a romantic than anyone's ever thought."

"Must be." Ruby looked her over one more time then smiled. 

Then, to Regina's surprise, they made small talk. Ruby talked about how it was to be back among the villagers she'd known. How Granny wanted to build a restaurant again because she'd enjoyed that so much in Storybrooke but that Ruby herself wasn't sure if that was the life she wanted. Her senses were so keen that it seemed a waste not to use them for the kingdom. She was a good tracker and it felt right to patrol the boundaries, keeping everyone safe. 

"A captain of the guard who could destroy an entire company on her own during a full moon would be truly impressive." 

"Like a queen consort who burns ogres for breakfast," Ruby said, grinning. 

Was this friendship? Admiring each other's lethal capabilities was an odd start, but an honest one. Did putting consort on the end really make her that much better? If her power came from Emma's birthright, it was legitimate and true. Perhaps they could do together what Regina had never done alone and truly rule. Hope flared, warming her chest. 

Then, horrifically it continued past warmth until her chest was burning. Regina sank to her knees, fighting for breath. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. Her chest ached with agony as if she couldn't draw breath, as if it were crushed by an invisible force.

Ruby scrambled around her, trying to figure out what was happening. Regina wasn't in any danger. The sun was high overhead and there was more than enough air in the woods. She forced her heart to settle, to stop racing, but the sensation of being trapped, unable to breath stuck with her. 

"Something's wrong."

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked. Her hands were on Regina's back. When Regina fought her way back to her feet, pushing herself out of the dirt, Ruby helped her up. "What happened?"

"I couldn't breathe. It felt like I was choking, trapped, somehow."

"Trapped, like in a mine?" Ruby's eyes grew wide in terror. "Emma's down the mine."

"No." She could taste the dust in her mouth. "No." She couldn't breathe in the darkness, as if the blackness itself were crushing her. "Emma." 

Ruby tensed, ready to run all the way back to the mine, but Regina grabbed her hand, dragging her through when she teleported them both to the entrance of the mine. Dust hung thick in the air around them, blocking out the sun. The dwarves were yelling to each other, barely intelligible. Pickaxes slammed against stone, ringing through the din. 

"Collapse..."

"Should never have happened."

"We have to get them out of there!”

Dwarves were screaming at each other, panicking all around her. 

Regina counted the heads she could see. Three. Four. One moving through the dust: five. Another down on the ground, unconscious on a stretcher: six. None of them were Emma. A figure moved through the dust, grey and coughing. She pushed through, losing Ruby in the cloud, but it was a dwarf, not Emma. None of the heads were Emma. 

Emma couldn’t breathe. Wherever she was, whatever was happening, Emma couldn’t breathe. 

Ruby grabbed her, shaking her until Regina realised it was her and she was trying to help. 

“Where’s Emma?”

Her chest- Emma’s chest, it had to be Emma’s chest- couldn’t move. It hurt so much Regina wasn’t sure she was breathing at all. Ruby shook her again.

“You have to focus. Where’s Emma? The dwarves couldn’t find her and I can’t smell her through this. You have to find her.”

Could she feel her? Maybe she could, if she could just concentrate long enough. 

“Regina!” 

Her name got through to her when nothing else could. She had to find Emma; she had to get her out. Backing out of the dust cloud, Regina drew a breath, then another, and she forced herself to focus, to think of Emma and nothing else. She could find her. If the mine had collapsed, getting to Emma wouldn’t help, she had to bring Emma to her. Summoning a person was incredibly difficult. People had will and did not like it being tempered with.

Unless they were unconscious.

Or dead. If Emma was dead summoning her corpse would be easy. She couldn’t think that way. Emma was alive because she could still feel her pain. Life was pain.

Regina pictured Emma lying on the ground in front of her, drawing on all the strength she had. She needed her; loved her. 

Love. That was it, wasn’t it? The strongest magic of all was love. She had loved Daniel desperately and watched him die. 

Emma would be different. She couldn’t watch Emma die. She wouldn’t, because she loved her. 

Regina forced everything else down, burying her panic with love. Loving Emma was easy, wasn’t it? Emma was her strength, her constant; the one person who never left her. She needed her now, so she brought her. Regina drew on all the strength she had, overriding what she’d been taught of magic and brought Emma here.

The air shivered and the thick grey dust drew in, then exploded outward, making room for Emma’s body to crack into existence at Regina’s feet. She collapsed next to her, nearly on top of her as she tried to stay conscious. Bringing Emma here, dragging her up from the depths of the mine had cost, and Regina’s vision swam dark within the grey. 

She screamed for help, her voice croaking through the din, but Ruby came, then a few of the dwarves. Emma’s hair was matted dark with dust and blood. Her hands were raw as if she’d tried to dig herself out. Her chest was strangely flat, almost concave and crushed. Was she even breathing?

The dwarves around her and Ruby cried for the Blue Fairy, for Emma’s parents, and activity burst around them. Regina couldn’t leave her. Emma was dying if she wasn’t already dead. 

She couldn’t be dead. She wasn’t going to lose her. It wasn’t an option to continue life without her. Magic crackled in Regina’s hands, reaching out towards Emma as if it knew what to do when she didn’t. Regina let it flow, unheeded by her fears. Purple arced from her hands, filling Emma up, repairing her shattered ribs, inflating her crushed lungs and insisting life belonged in this broken body. She should have been drained completely: this much healing magic and the teleportation of Emma’s body was more than she’d done alone. Regina shouldn’t have had the strength, but she needed Emma to live.

She thought of Emma’s laughter and the way her hands were always the temperature Regina needed them to be, cool or warm. She brought Emma’s love for the baby to the front of her mind, thinking of her and the softness in her eyes when she interacted with Regina’s belly. As if she could plead with the universe, Regina thought of how Emma deserved this chance to be a mother through all of her child’s life. Henry’s best chance had been away from her, but this baby’s life depended on Emma. 

Emma was the essential component to this existence.

A crowd had gathered around them. The dust had fallen from the air, sticking to the terror-born sweat on Regina’s skin. Everything and everyone was grey through the dust and there wouldn’t be colour again without Emma. The only colour she had was magic, racing out of her to repair the muscles along Emma’s ribs and the blood vessels that fed them. Her heart thudded in her chest, growing louder as Regina’s body struggled to keep up with the demand for more magic.

Emma needed more life.

Regina would have gladly given all of hers, but for the baby within her. Emma would want the baby to live. For an agonising moment, Regina imagined raising Emma’s child without her. Tears fell onto Emma’s still face, drawing tracks in the dust. 

Death wasn’t the answer. Emma had realised that once. Death was not the ultimate price.

Love was.

“I love you,” Regina whispered. “Don’t leave me.” The entire kingdom was around them and she whispered to her lover. “I love you, Emma.”

Why wouldn’t she wake up? Wasn’t that enough?

“Kiss her,” someone said. Ruby, because she was just behind her. “You have to kiss her.”

It wouldn’t work. Regina wasn’t allowed true love. Her love was never enough for miracles and had always fallen short of what was needed. If she’d loved her mother more, loved her father more, loved Henry and Daniel more than she did, she could have kept them safe. 

“Kiss her,” someone else, Grumpy ordered. “True love’s kiss.”

This wasn’t a magical curse. This was physical death and even true love’s kiss had limitations.

“Regina, kiss her,” Snow said, kneeling across from Emma. “She’s your true love.” The white gems on Snow’s crown glittered, even through the dust. 

Regina had to believe and she didn’t. Nothing transcended death, not even true love. She couldn’t save Daniel, how could she save Emma? She didn’t deserve love. She wasn’t good enough because she was never good. Evil didn’t get to be loved.

She wasn’t evil. Emma had made her promise to stop saying that.

Emma loved her and she was enough. Emma didn’t want more. Emma didn’t need her to be good. Emma loved her because Emma believed in her.

Emma tasted of dust and salt, probably Regina’s tears, but when their lips connected, power sparked outward. That shimmering golden light burst from their bodies, racing to cover the world with a singular flash of light.

Emma breathed.

Her eyes fluttered open and the crowd around them erupted into cheers. They were cheering for Emma, of course, because she was the saviour.

Yet Regina was embraced, first by Snow and David, then Ruby, the Widow Lucas, the dwarves: everyone was hugging, cheering and weeping. Dusty tears baptised so many of the faces around her that she lost track of who was crying.

Regina couldn’t stop crying and when she was finally shoved by the crowd back to Emma, she collapsed against her. Emma held her up. Emma held her close and kissed her, again and again.

“You saved me.”

In the middle of a sea of people, Regina’s whole world was Emma. “I owed you one.”

"True love's kiss," Snow said, kissing Emma's cheek, then Regina's. "I knew you could do it."

Regina's stomach knotted, only for a moment, and something in Snow's eyes was dark and familiar. It wasn't just blind faith, or Snow's foolish optimism. She'd known true love's kiss would work. She'd counted on it. Behind Snow, in the crowd, Regina saw Rumplestiltskin, standing with Belle. He nodded to her, then made a gentle tip of his hand, as if to acknowledge that Regina had done it, because they'd known she would.

She'd always been predictable.

Emma still held her and the darkness in Snow's eyes immediately faded away as if it had never been. She never would have manipulated them into something so dangerous. Snow wouldn't have risked her daughter just to prove that Regina was her true love. It didn't make any sense. Emma was alive and that was too beautiful to be ruined by Rumplestiltskin, or even Snow.

Yet doubt settled within her. She'd seen something in Snow that couldn't be ignored and no one would believe her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for taking so long. I had too much travel in too few days, but I'm home. Only the epilogue left and it's mostly romantic Emma/Regina.
> 
> I've begun the sequel and I'll start posting when I post the epilogue. Thank you for coming with me on this story's journey. It's been fantastic.


	16. epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> epilogue

Emma's bruises faded quickly, when she’d undressed for bed, she hadn’t been able to find any sign of her injuries. Even so, Regina slept next to her, holding her close. Emma lay awake after her brush with death and wondered who had come up with the rules of magic for this bizarre world. Love was the most powerful magic, and true love the most powerful of all, but what made it so? Neither her or Regina was an ideal candidate for true love, and why was it that Regina's love could defy death with her but not Daniel? Was losing a heart more intense a death than simply having her heart crushed in her chest? Emma didn't remember much of how she'd been injured, or how Regina had saved her. 

Regina's face, grey with dust and red with Emma's blood, haunted Emma when she shut her eyes. She'd nearly left Regina alone to raise their unborn baby and their merman son. Emma reached across beneath the blankets, resting her hand on Regina's belly. Regina had saved her and now she'd get to be there for the kid when she walked, as she learned to speak; all the things she'd missed with Henry. Regina wouldn't have to be alone. She'd never have to doubt or sit up long nights by herself while the baby cried. They could do this together.

That was what mattered most to her now, keeping their family together as a unit and having what neither of them had ever had. They were going to be that stability, that rock for each other. Maybe there would have to be a few more life saving kisses along the way, but it was almost a relief to know that they had the power within them. Few were that lucky.

Emma still wasn't sure what had happened. Evacuating the mine had been going well, she was better at blasting through rock than she'd thought and she was able to make neat tunnels through. The dwarves had followed behind her, propping up the new tunnels with wooden beams. It had gone so well at first. She'd been calm, even grateful with the way her magic had responded. It was working and it was helping, which was what she wanted most of all: magic that could make life better. Magic didn't have to be a weapon or a threat, it could be an asset. 

Until the cave collapsed onto her. Emma remembered only the vaguest sensation of shadow, a darkness reaching for her. Death was supposed to be a light, wasn't it? The darkness had wanted her, but Regina took her instead. Perhaps it was backwards for her. The darkness was death and quiet, reaching out, but Regina had pulled her into the light. Emma didn't remember pain. Regina had whispered that she'd known Emma was in trouble when she couldn't breathe. Emma didn't remember suffocating, nor her ribs breaking. She'd been whole and Regina had been crying over her. 

Everyone had been so happy. She'd never been congratulated so much in one afternoon, especially considering she'd done nothing. It had all been Regina. She'd even done it correctly, because the Blue Fairy had promised Emma wasn't pregnant. That kind of lifesaving overkill was Emma's skill alone. 

Regina rolled to her side and Emma snuggled closer to her, listening to her breathing. Breath was such a simple thing, so subtle, but take it away and what was bright and living went dark.

Why did the darkness frighten her so? What had been down in the mine? She hadn't been able to blow out the last candle. Regina had fallen asleep before Emma had needed to admit that being in darkness, even with Regina in her arms, terrified her. Something had happened, something she couldn't remember, and she'd need to. 

Snow said it was an accident. That the dwarves hadn't realised that Emma's magic was so powerful, that they'd know better next time. Besides, the kingdom knew Regina was Emma's true love. She was accepted by all now, because true love was inviolate. It was the highest law of their land, even stronger than Snow's pardon. No one would dare deny Emma Regina's assistance, or again call her the Evil Queen. Regina could just be herself: Emma's partner, Henry's mother, and sooner than Emma thought, Emma's wife. 

Snow had taken advantage of the good mood of the kingdom and announced Emma and Regina's betrothal at dinner. Wedding plans were already underway, and though all Emma wanted was to hide away with Regina and remember why she was alive, she'd needed to be the good princess and accept congratulations from everyone. When they'd finally escaped the wellwishers, Regina was exhausted and Emma's face was nearly sore from smiling. Cheating death was one thing, being congratulated by an entire kingdom for it was something else entirely. 

She'd been cheerful, using everyone's good will to ingratiate Regina into the community. Snow did it even better than Emma did, making sure everyone who wanted to be seen congratulating Emma also gave Regina their thanks. Being queen was a game Snow obviously knew how to play. Regina knew the rules too and that made Emma the fresh-faced new player at the table. Luckily, David wasn't much better. Perhaps she'd be able to bond with her father about the complex nature of politics that neither of them understood. 

The moon lit Emma's stained glass window, casting soft pastel light across the stone floor. It was probably approaching midnight and still she couldn't sleep. Maybe it didn't matter. Emma was fairly accustomed to functioning on little sleep, and she did it well when she needed to. Regina slept at her side, which was what really mattered. To say it had been a trying day for her was an understatement, and the dark circles beneath her eyes hadn't faded at all. 

Was she going to wake nauseated again? Had yesterday been a fluke? Was the darkness in the mine connected to Regina’s relapse of morning sickness? Ruby said she’d improved as they walked further from the mine out into the woods. Was there darkness beneath the earth as there was beneath the sea?

Emma turned the beads on her wrist, rolling them between her fingers. She hadn’t ever been the type to pray, but the one wish she’d really made had come true. She hadn’t been alone on that birthday, nor the next one, and it seemed that by her thirtieth, she’d have nearly two children and a wife. Could she wish them safe? Would it backfire somehow and everyone would end up turned into mermaids? Why had the goddess in the red dress thought it so important to tell Emma that she and Regina would have another child when there were so many dangers?

Regina rolled onto her back and Emma shifted again to lie as comfortably next to her as she could. It was safer when she touched her. Keeping Regina in contact chased her nightmares, assuming she was ever going to sleep.

Maybe it was a side effect of returning from the dead. She’d never have the sleeping curse dreams her parents and Henry had, but perhaps there was some kind of ‘I’ve recently been dead’ insomnia that she'd have to deal with.

Regina’s breathing became less regular, she shifted, then woke. Her eyes fluttered slowly open, resisting being awake. She yawned, trying to be as quiet as she could before she noticed Emma’s eyes were open.

“Was I thinking too hard?” Emma teased.

Shaking her head sleepily, Regina crept from beneath the blankets, throwing on her robe over her nude body. Emma watched her in the weak light, fascinated by her dark hair on her shoulders. She disappeared into the garderobe, and when Emma was sure she wasn’t throwing up, she smirked. 

Regina returned, drying her hands on a small towel. There must have been enough light for her to see Emma’s smirk, because she tossed the towel in the vicinity of Emma’s head.

“You need to learn to sleep on your side,” Emma said.

Sliding out of her robe, Regina climbed back into bed, wrapping her cold hands tight around Emma. 

Most of her skin was so cool from being out of the warmth of the bed that Emma gasped, then tried to hold her close enough to warm her up.

“Castles are freezing.”

“No central heating, dear.”

“We should put that on the list. Heating and plumbing. As beautiful as the castle is, the cesspit beneath is us way too close to the lake our water comes from to be safe.” 

Regina nodded, yawning again into Emma’s shoulder. “King George lost his wife to an outbreak of the bloody flux.”

“Bloody flux? Seriously? Why aren’t we fixing the plumbing right now?” Emma pulled her closer, holding Regina’s cool hands against her own stomach to warm them.

“Because she probably was infected in the village, not the castle.”

“Great.”

Regina muttered something that was entirely intelligible because she was yawning, then tried again. “We didn’t know it was bacterial at the time. Our entire kingdom learned about the spread of disease from my curse. Before I went to the land without magic, I knew nothing of vaccines or the treatment of disease other than with magic.”

Emma hissed in shock as Regina brought up her cold feet against Emma’s legs. Regina held Emma close, her belly against Emma’s back and her arms around Emma’s chest. 

“Can we do it? I only paid attention in the gory parts of history class and there are a lot of deadly things out there.”

“Is this why you can’t sleep?” Regina’s sleepy fingers ran over Emma’s breast, more lazy than aroused. “You’re lying here worrying about diseases?”

“It’s probably your fault I can’t sleep. You brought me back.”

Regina sat up, clutching the blankets to her chest, and Emma turned to look at her. She’d been joking, but maybe it was too soon to find her brush with death amusing.

“I’m sorry.” Emma sat up beside her, leaning against the ornately carved headboard. 

Stroking her face, Regina struggled to smile. “I’m not ready to lose you.”

“You’re not going to lose me.”

“You were dead.”

“Almost dead,” Emma corrected, kissing Regina’s fingers. “Totally different.”

“Emma--“

“I’m all right. You saved me. You saved me with true love’s kiss and the whole kingdom’s enamoured with you.”

“They accept me without admitting they want to clap me in irons, which I'd hardly call enamoured.”

Emma wrapped her hands around Regina’s wrists, playfully insisting she could come up with better ways to bind her. Regina wasn’t ready to be soothed, and her eyes still shone with fear. 

“I didn’t think I could.”

“I believed in you.”

Regina shook her head. “You were unconscious.”

“I will always believe in you.”

That brought the tears back to Regina’s eyes and Emma watched the first slip free from her lashes. 

“Hey. It’s all right.”

“I could have failed.”

“You didn’t. You won’t.”

Regina rubbed her eyes to chase her tears, no longer sleepy. Maybe it would be good for her to talk about it. She’d been so quiet before they’d gone to sleep.

“Emma, I’m not ready.”

“You’ve had my life in your hands before.”

“When you were awake, when you could help, I’ve never had to save someone on my own. I’m not the saviour.”

“You’re mine,” Emma promised her. Touching her face did nothing to stop Regina’s tears, so Emma kissed them away. “It’s all right.”

“You were dead.”

“I’m right here. I’m fine.”

“Daniel wasn’t.”

“I think I’m luckier.” Emma kept kissing her cheeks, then her forehead. “It’s all right.”

“I could have failed.”

“We have true love! That’s the magical trump card, get out of death free card, the weapon of massive saving.”

“Did you know that when you went into the mine?” 

“No.” Emma caught Regina’s hands and held them tight. “But not because I don’t believe in you.”

“You didn’t think you deserved true love.”

“Regina, I don’t think it’s something you have to earn. I think it just happens.”

“To us?”

Emma wished she could hold her close enough to calm her. Instead, she ended up crying with her. Her tears echoing Regina’s as they ran hot down her face. 

“We’re allowed a win, every once in awhile. We saved an empire, summoned a dragon and our son lost his legs. I think our true love is more than fair.”

“You said the universe doesn’t work that way.”

“I have no idea how it works. My parents get true love and you lost Daniel. Henry gets to have all his parents, but can’t have his legs. You have to save my life to be accepted, but Rumplestiltskin lives in a mansion on the edge of town as if he’s always been on our side. It’s not fair.”

“Doesn’t that mean I’m going to lose you?”

Emma eased Regina close, until she was nearly in Emma’s lap. “Not fair means that sometimes we win. You can obviously bring me back from the brink of death. That makes me the safest person in the kingdom, because you love me.”

Regina leaned back against her, starting to relax. “Now you’re going to say that love is strength.”

“Seems like it.”

“Love turns me into a wreck.”

“You’re beautiful.”

“You have strange taste in beauty.” 

Emma kissed her again then offered her pyjama sleeve to Regina in lieu of a handkerchief. “We’re going to need to take handkerchiefs to bed if this keeps happening.”

“As long as you don’t make a habit of risking death, maybe this won’t happen again.”

After an initial look of disdain, Regina wiped her eyes in the crook Emma’s elbow then settled down with her head in Emma’s lap. 

Running her hands through Regina’s dark hair, Emma smiled down at her. “You think you’ll be less likely to burst into tears as you get more pregnant?” 

“I didn’t know it came in degrees.”

“When your ankles are all swollen and you can’t see your feet--“

Regina lifted the quilt and peered down into the blackness beneath. She sent a tiny flare of light down towards her feet. “So far they’re still there.” 

“Cute.” Emma sent a tiny ball of light down to merge with Regina’s, making sparks of blue and purple. “Go back to sleep.” 

“I’m trying,” Regina sighed. “I’m awake now. I’ll probably have to pee again anyway.”

“I’ve been telling you. Sleep on your side.” 

“I’m on my side.”

“Sleep.”

“You think it’s that easy?”

“You nearly fall asleep at dinner every night.” Emma shifted back down, moving Regina’s head to her chest. “Maybe we need food and people trying to talk to you.” 

“No one talks to me.” 

“Everyone talked to you tonight.” 

Regina yawned and shook her head. Her voice was softening, hopefully she would fall asleep again. “Snow made them.”

“No one made them. You’re the hero of the day.” 

Moving just enough to kiss Emma’s neck, Regina buried another yawn. “Only Henry’s ever called me a hero.”

“You were mine today.” 

Regina’s hand flicked against Emma’s chin, her aim dulled by exhaustion. “That’s quite sappy, dear.” 

“Coming back from the dead does that to me, apparently.” 

“You weren’t dead.”

“Sleep, you can argue with me in the morning. I’ll be here.” Emma wrapped her arms tighter around her. “I’ll always be here.” 

Whatever Regina murmured in reply was barely audible, but it didn’t matter. Emma knew what she meant.

* * *

The cold sea wrapped around her ankles, pouring into her boots. Emma was even farther in, and her trousers clung to her legs as the water reached her waist. They should have brought the amulets, the sea probably wasn’t so horribly cold with them, but the merfolk were early and neither of them had wanted to wait. Henry rose from the water, laughing as he threw his arms around her neck. She’d be soaked, and they hadn’t brought down towels. 

Yet it didn’t matter. Henry was so happy to see them. 

He hugged her tight, barely warmer than the sea. He was much more gentle with her, almost as if he thought she was fragile. Fins or not, he was still her little boy. There was no way to tell without his feet on the bottom, but he must have grown a few inches. Was it merfolk magic? Did they grow faster than humans? 

“I’m not grabbing you too tightly, am I?” 

“I’m fine.”

“And the baby?”

That was what worried him. 

“Everything’s fine,” Emma promised, wrapping her arm around Henry’s shoulders. “You don’t have to worry. Your mom’s perfectly healthy.”

Henry hugged her again, this time much tighter. “You’re really okay? You don’t look any different.” 

“I’m fine.” Regina stroked his hair back from his forehead. 

“Give it time.” Emma rested her wet hand against Regina’s stomach. “When I had you inside of me, I barely believed you were there, then it felt like one day, I woke up and you were huge.” 

“Huge?” Henry asked. 

“Like a grapefruit.” 

Henry looked Regina up and down, keeping his eyes on her stomach as if somehow he’d be able to see through her. “How big is the baby now?”

Emma wrinkled her nose thoughtfully. “Like a walnut.”

“Really?” 

Regina shook her head at both of them. “I thought we were going to stop referring to the baby as food.”

“A cupcake,” Emma said, ruffling Henry’s damp hair. “She’s our little cupcake.”

Watching Henry oscillate between disgust and sharing Emma’s amusement, Regina realised he was growing up. 

“A cupcake is worse than a walnut.” 

“I think cupcakes are much better,” Emma said. She wrapped her arms tight around her chest, trying to keep her teeth from chattering. Regina’s feet were so cold that it felt like knives had been stabbed into them. The trees on shore had already started to turn red and gold. 

“You guys should get inside. You’re not dressed for this.” Henry patted her shoulder. The cold meant nothing to him but Emma’s lips were blue. “You should take good care of the cupcake.”

“The baby is not a cupcake.”

“Could be a bearclaw,” Henry said, grinning at Emma. “A little baby bearclaw.” 

That was worse. The two of them were ridiculous. Emma obviously didn’t think so, and she laughed with Henry. “We missed you kid.” 

“Go, get warm. I’ll see you at dinner. King Triton wants to welcome your ambassador properly. It’ll be a great dinner. He’s really good at throwing a party. Sebastian has been working on the music for weeks. It’ll be really cool.”

Henry hadn’t had a father figure before. She hadn’t thought he needed one, but perhaps this had been good for him. Triton was kind and his world was rich with wonders. There was so much for Henry to experience out of Storybrooke. Regina had been everything to him there and the weeks he’d travelled with the merfolk had been his first experience away from her for more than a night or two. He wasn’t hers anymore. 

Emma hugged him again. “See you at dinner.”

“Go, your lips are all blue and mom’s teeth are chattering.” Henry sounded like her when she was trying to get him out of the pool in the summer. 

She embraced him, trying to blame her tears on the cold. “We’ll see you.” 

Her chin trembled and her entire body began to shake, trying to find some warmth. Emma dragged her out of the surf, then teleported them both back to the castle. 

Regina would have lingered if she could, wanting to spend as much time as possible with Henry, but there were limitations. She could barely feel her fingers, and everything below her waist was entirely numb. Emma whisked her wet clothes away, wrapping Regina in towels and blankets. She knelt in front of the fireplace long enough to set it roaring, then sent her own wet clothes off to join Regina’s. 

She did it all so easily, as if she’d had magic all of her life. Regina carefully bent her fingers, trying to wriggle some life back into them. They’d only been in the water a little while, but it seemed to have stolen all the heat she had. 

“They’ll hurt like a bitch when the feeling comes back,” Emma said, gesturing at Regina’s bare white feet. “We should have brought the amulets.” 

“We’ll have them for dinner.” Even as she started to warm back up, Regina’s teeth chattered more than they had a moment ago. 

Emma shivered just as badly, hugging her blankets close. “He looked good, didn’t he?”

“He’s taller.”

“You think so too?”

“He’s definitely taller.” 

Emma’s cold fingers wrapped around her own. “It’s good to see him.”

“And he’ll be here, nearby.”

“And you’re going to wear your amulet to go visit him. Otherwise you’ll probably catch pneumonia or something.” Emma brought their hands close to the fire. “I’m glad he’s here.”

“We need to tell him about the wedding.” Regina winced as blood returned agonisingly to her fingertips. 

“Give him a day or two to get used to being here with us. The sea has to be really different from the seas around Qin.” Emma rubbed her hands slowly. “He’s swum halfway around the world. Think of what he’s seen.”

“I’m sure he’ll tell us.” Circulation returning to her calves and ankles stung. 

Nodding and hissing her breath, Emma agreed. She had to hurt as much as Regina did. If not more. She’d been in deeper. 

“He needs to be in the wedding.”

“Are we getting married under the sea now?” Emma tilted her head, grinning. “It would save on the time to make a dress. You wouldn’t need anything.”

“We can get married on the beach.”

“In the fall? We’ll need to wear fur coats.”

Clumsily taking Emma’s hand with her still-numb fingers, Regina stopped her protests. “I don’t care if we get married in woollen blankets. If you and Henry are there, that’s all that matters, dear.”

Emma kissed her, her lips only slightly warmer than Regina’s. “Aren’t you romantic?”

“I love you. I can be as romantic as I need to be.”

“I kinda like you in blankets.”

“Oh really?” Regina huddled closer to her. “I never would have guessed.”

“I kinda like you in anything.”

Kissing her gently, Regina nodded. “I know.” 

“Yeah?”

Slipping her hands inside of the blanket around Emma’s shoulders, Regina rested her hand above Emma’s heart. This was the heart she trusted more than her own. 

"I love you, Emma."

"Truly, madly--" Emma beamed at her like a light through the clouds. "It's just right, isn't it?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and being so supportive! It's been absolutely wonderful writing this pairing and being part of this fandom.


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